Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510120047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B--1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KEN DALEY THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``I know,'' Hershiser said, breaking into his familiar grin as he sat in the Indians' locker room in Cleveland. ``Mr. O'Malley clipped out a color picture of me pitching in my Indians uniform and mailed it to me with a note that said, `You still look better in blue.'
``It's nice that he still remembers me.''
Los Angeles Dodgers president Peter O'Malley, who approved executive vice president Fred Claire's decision to drop Hershiser from his team, forever will be ``Mr. O'Malley'' to Hershiser. Just as Hershiser will forever be a Dodger to many of the team's most loyal fans.
But he's not.
When Hershiser took the mound Wednesday night at the Kingdome, it was in a pair of those red shoes to pitch for the Cleveland Indians against the Seattle Mariners in the second game of the American League Championship series. Hershiser is back in a league championship series, while the Dodgers are sitting at home after getting swept by Cincinnati in the AL division series.
``This definitely was a good pick for me as far as the choices I had,'' Hershiser said. ``It's been everything I dreamed of and more, from the facility to my teammates, the run production, the outstanding defense.
``And since I've been through it before, this time the playoffs have been more enjoyable. That novelty, the wide-eyed wonder of it all isn't there, so I'm able to soak more in.''
And there's plenty to enjoy.
He's playing in a magnificent new ballpark, Jacobs Field, for a team that won 100 of 144 games in the regular season. His team led the American League in scoring, batting average, hits, home runs, total bases, RBI, stolen bases, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, ERA, shutouts, fewest walks allowed and saves, making it a lot easier for Hershiser to go 16-6 with a 3.87 ERA this year than he could have with the Dodgers.
But as badly as Hershiser wants that second World Series ring, and as good as his chances are of winning it with Cleveland, one senses he might still rather be in Dodger blue.
``I made a conscious effort not to compare the Indians with the Dodgers,'' he said, ``because I don't think I would have appreciated someone coming in the Dodgers' clubhouse dissecting everything compared to the way it was in another organization. I've really had to watch my tongue sometimes when I wanted to say something was done in L.A. this way.
``I'm thinking maybe that helped me miss L.A. less. It's also not fair to the Dodgers for me to dissect them in the newspapers. I've tried to stay away from that, also.''
And Hershiser has. He kept his mouth shut when after 10 full seasons the Dodgers disregarded his 134 wins (sixth on L.A.'s career list) and chose to give the $2 million that might have re-signed him to an unknown, unproven Japanese rookie named Hideo Nomo. He stayed silent when he was cast aside without an offer to return at any price because the team was committing a rotation spot to young Ismael Valdes. And he still has too strong an affinity for the Dodgers to gloat about the success he has found with his new team.
``I have a special relationship with Dodgers fans and with people in Los Angeles outside of baseball,'' he said. ``There could be a point in my life where L.A. is again home, not necessarily professionally, and I wouldn't want to do anything to sever that relationship or hurt it.
``If the Dodgers had offered me employment at a reasonable salary, I would've still been a Dodger. But there was no offer, no opportunity to decide anything. There was no purpose to me making this change, other than that the Dodgers weren't offering me employment and I still wanted to play and believed I could.
``The purpose of my choosing Cleveland was to try to fulfill all the things I was leaving. In leaving, I didn't see many areas where I could improve. I guess my level of being content is the same. It definitely was a transition that took some thought and a lot of prayer.
``It wasn't a shock, but it was a big change.''
And red shoelaces were only the start.
``This is the first time I've played in a city where my family didn't live,'' said the pitcher, whose wife Jamie and sons Orel and Justin have remained in Florida much of the season. ``I didn't get to come home to my family, I didn't have friends around to go out to dinner with. I moved into an environment where I knew no one.
``And learning the American League was a huge change, seeing how much of an offensive game it is over here. There were new ballparks, new cities, new clubhouse guys, new hotels. I just decided to look at it as an adventure.''
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB