Orel Hershiser

True Blue LA has a pretty extensive piece describing the greatness of Orel Hershiser in the 80s. As I was reading through, I was struck by how hard is for me to believe there was a time when the Dodgers were so dominant. I mean, I know the facts: The Yankees had the most wins in the decade, but the Dodgers won the most World Series (2). Orel won the Cy Young award, not to mention SI's Sportsman of the Year Award in 88, too. Kirk Gibson was MVP that year. Fernandomania in 1981 (149 pitches in Game 3 of the WS!). It's just difficult to picture the Dodgers being something other than an obscure hobby that my family shares with...no one else I ever encounter.

What TBLA does in the Hershiser piece totally captures so much of what I love about baseball as a game: Yes, there are endless statistics and detail that can be broken down and analyzed so many ways for years and years, but it's combined with simple, beautifully romantic, and intrinsically American narrative. No wonder there are so many movies made about baseball.