While Orel Hershiser has become increasingly more well-known for calling Los Angeles Dodgers games than his on-field production from 1983 to 2000, the 1988 Cy Young winner still knows a thing or two about what it takes to strike out batters at the professional level, to the point where Dave Roberts invited the Legend of Dodger Baseball to Spring Training in 2026.

Discussing what it's like to be back in a Dodgers uniform with the boys once more with Dodgers Territory, Hershiser toasted the team for treating their alumni with respect, as it makes them an ‘elite status organization.‘

“Yeah, the last time I was in camp, we got to go back to COVID. And then the rules with COVID cut the coaching staff down because of the rules. So all of us, kind of alumni, veteran coaches that were in uniform, were kind of jettisoned. And then the Dodgers win the World Championship in 2020. So they're like, ‘Why do we need those guys?’ But I ran into Dave in the offseason. And he said, ‘You know, you're one of us, Orel, and you should be in uniform in camp.’ And I go, ‘All you got to do is ask.’ And he asked, and here I am,” Hersheiser said.

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“But the exciting thing about camp, first of all, is being back in uniform, and then second of all, being respected by the organization and the guys and welcoming me. And so this organization is an elite status organization, because they're open to everybody. And that's the great thing. You know, you're in the coaches' room, you're in Dave's meetings, you're in the player meetings. And every voice has power. And that's what makes it a lot of fun to be an alumni that gets to come back and contribute.”

Though Hershiser didn't play all of his MLB career in Los Angeles, splitting time between Cleveland, San Francisco, and the Mets before signing a one-year contract to close out his career with the Dodgers in 2000, he has become a certified Los Angeleno through and through. With a list of accolades a mile long, if Dodgers aces like Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto can learn a thing or two from Hersheiser this spring, then the team's decision to bring him to camp was more than justified.