Dodgers: Orel Hershiser and Manny Mota Set to Receive Huge Honors at Dodger Stadium in 2023
There are currently five players in the Legends of Dodger Baseball club, which the Dodgers created a few years ago to honor players who haven’t been elected to the Hall of Fame and therefore haven’t had their numbers retired. Fernando Valenzuela, Steve Garvey, Don Newcombe, Maury Wills, and Kirk Gibson are the five current members of the group.
That group will expand to seven this season, as Los Angeles has announced two new additions coming this season.
LA had originally announced eight bobblehead giveaways over the first half of the season, but they’ve added a Manny Mota bobblehead for April 29 when he’s inducted into the Legends. Their second-half promotional schedule hasn’t been fully released, but they’ve announced an Orel Hershiser bobblehead on July 29 for his special night. (The only other second-half promotions that have been announced come during “Fernando Valenzuela weekend” in August, when, in addition to retiring Fernando’s number 34, the team will also give away a Fernando bobblehead and a replica of Fernando’s 1981 World Series ring.)
Mota was recently inducted into the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame and has been with the Dodgers for nearly six decades. In the announcement of his being honored, Mota was typically humble.
“I’m very grateful to the Dodgers for selecting me as a Legend of Dodger Baseball. I don’t consider myself a legend. I consider myself another person who always tried to contribute to the organization and give the organization all my best,” Mota said. “I was very humbled to receive the good news, and it made me very pleased and very proud of being part of this great organization. I really appreciate what the Dodgers are doing for me, the way they’ve taken care of me for a long time.”
Hershiser spent 13 of his 18 big-league seasons in Los Angeles, and he’s been back with the team as a broadcaster for nearly a decade. He won the 1988 Cy Young Award in a season in which he set the record with 59 consecutive scoreless innings and led the Dodgers to a World Series title.
“This is amazing to be placed among the greats in franchise history. This is the part of life that you never imagined,” Hershiser said. “To think I was drafted in the 17th round in 1979 and here now I am still representing this great organization. The Dodgers have been one of the most important parts of my life. I love my teammates, I love this organization, and I love you fans. The experiences that I’ve had in uniform on and off the field have taken my life to places I never thought I could go.”
Congratulations to two highly deserving Dodger Legends!
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