Pitbull Junior

by Phil Gurnee on Mar 17, 2008 9:41 AM PDT in News Comment 16 comments

If you heard the story about Tommy Lasorda calling Chad Billingsley a Pit-bull you might think this story has something to do with the BS that Tommy likes to spout about, where he takes credit for Orel's success all because he bestowed a nickname on the timid pitcher. Now Tommy is pulling the same bull with Chad. Nice timing Tommy, since anyone who follows the game is picking our boy Chad to be the staff ace in 2008. I wonder how much credit he will take for Chad's breakout?

Anyway this story is not about Tommy but about Orel's offspring. 6-4-2 gives us the heads up that Orel's son Jordan is playing for USC this spring. Jordan lists his Dad as his biggest sports hero. Since he's a freshman he wasn't even born when his Dad became the stuff legends are made of while pitching the Dodgers to their last World Championship. Still as he was growing up his Dad was pitching in plenty of playoff games and I guess that is what made him list his Dad as his greatest sports hero.

I think for many Dodger fans, Orel might be our greatest sports hero. While Kirk Gibson continues to get well deserved accolades for his role in our last World Championship, it was Orel who was step in step with him all the way until the end. Unlike Gibby, Orel continued his excellence beyond the 1st game of the World Series and made sure the A's never got off the ground. While Jordan Hershiser probably picked Orel because he is his father , it would be a befitting choice for anyone who watched Orel pitch for the Dodgers. Not just in 1988 but from 1984 - 1989, he gave us the 5 best years of any Dodger pitcher since Sandy Koufax was in his heyday. His 1985 season was actually the best season ever by a Dodger starting RHP, based on ERA+ as the metric.

Don Sutton and Don Drysdale are HOF Dodger pitchers, and Fernando is the guy who gets the biggest applause when ex-Dodgers are announced, but none of them could hold a candle to Orel during the late 80's. With Dodger Vice Presidents showing up faster then NBA offspring you would have hoped that they could have found a spot for Orel. Hey, he's an ex-Giant, doesn't that give him a leg up over ex-Dodgers in this new regime?

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Can Jordan Boogie Like His Father?

by Rich on Mar 17, 2008 12:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

You are correct

That Orel seems under appreciated by Dodger fans, but check out Kevin Brown. It never ceases to amaze me that most fans think of him as nothing but an expensive injury ridded bust for the Dodgers, yet he gave us three great years.

by schoffle on Mar 17, 2008 5:10 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Re:

People like to use Kevin Brown as an example of a bad contract but he was worth his deal and then Evans flipped him at the right time.

Darren Dreifort he wasn't.

I was however glad to see that Orel bested Grumpy by one point in ERA+ to take the title of best season by a Dodger right hander.

by Phil Gurnee on Mar 18, 2008 7:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re

Yeah it is nice to have Dodger records held by true Dodger legends. I think that the whole Mr. Grumpy thing really affected how people perceived Brown through out his career, no Cy Young's' despite some great years (esp with the Marlins).

by schoffle on Mar 18, 2008 8:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Seriously...

How did we not give Orel a job in baseball operations? The guy knows so much--love him on ESPN doing color. Someone needs to hire that guy.

There is a suspicious number of Vice Presidents in the Dodgers, I worked there last season and I knew of three but there were about 12 in the organization.

by wiffle ball legend on Mar 18, 2008 2:43 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

It Sounds Like

Frank McCourt's silent partner in ownership is the mob. His main duty is to give guys no-work jobs. Which is why there are 12 VPs.

by Rich on Mar 18, 2008 7:47 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Except ...

Since he's a freshman he wasn't even born when his Dad became the stuff legends are made of while pitching the Dodgers to their last World Championship.

B-Ref says his dad's scoreless innings streak started Sept. 5 (it actually started in the previous game, but B-Ref only counts whole games in their streak finder). Jordan was born September 15, 1988, the day after the Dodgers beat Atlanta 1-0 behind Hershiser and a walkoff double by Mike Marshall; appropriately for that season, Kirk Gibson, who reached on a leadoff walk, scored the winning run.

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

by scareduck on Mar 18, 2008 9:00 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

RE:

I hate it when dates get in the way of the story. Thanks for the heads up on Jordan.

6'8 wow

by Phil Gurnee on Mar 18, 2008 9:31 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Alejandro

I love that Alejandro Peña shows up twice on the Baseball-Reference list above. He really was a very good pitcher for the Blue in the 80s. He was never really the closer; maybe his title was "ace reliever" though. But the list linked above shows us two very good years as a starter in his age 24 & 25 seasons.

After leading the NL in ERA (and ERA+) in 1984, he pitched all of 4.1 IP in 1985. I was a young Dodger fan at the time (9 years old) -- was Peña a victim of Lasorda? I don't remember the nature of his injury.

-Eric

by Eric Stephen on Mar 18, 2008 4:53 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

More Peña

I forgot to add that I'll always remember Peña as the winning pitcher of the greatest game of my lifetime...so far.

-Eric

by Eric Stephen on Mar 18, 2008 4:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

130 ERA+

ToyCannon, using your list above, the 1985 team was the only Dodger team after 1947 to have three 130+ ERA pitchers (Hershiser, Welch, Fernando). Man, that 1985 team was good.

Stupid Jack Clark.

-Eric

by Eric Stephen on Mar 18, 2008 10:16 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Fanerman

I deleted your comments about the email.
Andrew doesn't clear out his email address that he uses for this site and it fills up. Just leave a question for him in the comments section and he can reach you via your email in the profile.

Hopefully he reads his own site's comments.

by Phil Gurnee on Mar 19, 2008 7:25 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs