Hershiser is Still Dealing!

Remember the 1988 World Series? Not the World Series of Poker, but baseball's fall spectacular. I sure do. It was between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland A's, and one reason I remember it is because of Kirk Gibson's huge home run to win game one. Gibson limped out -- both hamstrings shot -- with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and hit a walk-off home run off Oakland's phenomenal closer, Dennis Eckersley, to win the game (the inside story of that moment follows below). The other reason I remember that World Series is because Dodgers' pitcher Orel Hershiser was a stud! He dealt his pitches perfectly, and he won game two pretty much on his own, giving up just three hits while pitching a shutout, and banging out three hits himself, including two doubles. He scored a run, drove in another, and went 3-for-3. So, he was responsible for pitching a nine-inning shutout and for putting at least one of the Dodgers' scant runs on the scoreboard! Two players batted 1.000 in one game in the 1988 World Series -- Gibson (one legendary at-bat) and Hershiser. And Hershiser also pitched nine innings in his next World Series outing -- in game four -- and got another win. Just in case you think Orel wasn't big in 1988, let me remind you that he was the MVP of that World Series!

Before we get into Hershiser's recent poker successes, and the fact that he made it down to the final eight players in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2008, let me relate that inside story, told to me by Hershiser himself. In that first game in 1988, Gibson and Hershiser were watching the game in the Dodgers' clubhouse TV room. On air, Joe Garagiola and Vin Scully were going down the list of possible pinch hitters. But, they neglected to mention Gibson's name, supposing, probably, that he was just too lame. This ticked off Gibson, and he said, "Hershy, let's go to the trainer's room right now and ice down my hammies." That done, they went quickly to the batting cage, but Gibson couldn't even bend down to pick up a baseball, and Hershiser had to put the ball on the tee for him. After he'd whacked about 10 balls, Gibson shouted, "I can bat! Run down and tell Lasorda that I'm ready." So, Hershiser told Tommy Lasorda that Gibson was ready to go, and Lasorda said, "No kidding! Keep Gibby in the tunnel so that we surprise the A's. Don't even let him into the dugout." With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the Dodgers trailing, Lasorda summoned Gibson from the tunnel, and the rest is baseball history! Later on, the A's manager, Tony LaRussa, figured that the Dodgers had put the announcers up to it, a claim that Hershiser denies. ("Phil, I was there, and it happened just like I told you.")

When Hershiser showed up at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, he had one advantage over some of the regular guys: He is clutch. Hershiser is used to the pressure, the spotlight, and the glare, and he had often stepped up big under those conditions. Recently, he was playing in the PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour event in Costa Rica with 397 other players, when an interesting hand came up. With the blinds at 50-100, a tight player under the gun opened for 275, two players called, Hershiser (with 8,500 of his 10,000 starting stack) called with the J 9 from the cutoff, and the player on the button called, as well. Five players saw the flop of A K 3, and all five checked. The turn card was the A, and Orel had his flush. The under-the-gun player bet 600, Orel called, the player on the button made it 2,600 to go, the under-the-gun player called, and Orel folded. On the river, the 4 hit, and both players checked, giving the pot to the under-the-gun player, who was holding the 10 8. Hershiser would have won the pot with his jack-high flush!



Let's take a closer look at this hand. First, Orel's call of 275 was OK, but I would have slightly preferred a fold at that point. However, there were three players in the pot already, and Hershiser had great position and suited connectors. On the flop, I like his check; why bet and get raised out of the pot? On the turn, I like his call of the 600 bet, but I hate his fold for 2,000 more. It was too easy to assume that the under-the-gun player had an ace, like A-J for three aces, which Hershiser had crushed; and if the button player had a set or two pair on the flop, he almost certainly would have bet something on the flop. I would be looking at the possibility of moving all in here on the turn, not folding. The only hands that could beat him were a full house or a queen-high flush. At the very least, Orel should have called, and then, on the river, he could have folded if someone had moved all in, showing tremendous strength.