FanHouse OrelHershiser

(Spoiler alert: The National Heads-Up Poker Championship airs on NBC starting on April 13th. If you don't want to know how far Orel Hershiser went, or who won, then you should step away from your computer. Better yet, click this link right away to see one of Orel's other talents.)

You may be surprised to find out that former Dodger Orel Hershiser is an ace poker player. But when you think about it, it kind of makes sense. This was a man nicknamed "Bulldog", in part because of that nasty look he sported on the mound. If he flashed that look at the National Heads-Up poker tournament this past weekend, then it's no wonder he went all the way to the final four.

Former NL Cy Young Award winner Orel Hershiser did extraordinarily well at the National Heads-Up Poker Championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas over the weekend, beating three name pros on his way to the final four. But Hershiser fell in the semis to Andy Bloch, a poker pro and also a member of the famed MIT blackjack team featured in the book, Bringing Down the House. Bloch was beaten at the final table by Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, perhaps the most recognizable poker player in the world. (...)

Hershiser, who received $125,000 for his finish according to a reported prize schedule, knocked off Ted Forrest, who won the heads-up championship two years ago, as well as Allen Cunningham and Freddy Deeb, who both have World Series of Poker championship bracelets. At the final table, Bloch won the first match but Ferguson (right) came from behind to win the next two matches and the $500,000 first prize.

Who needs the rigors of being a pitching coach or traveling around doing games for ESPN when you could pick up six figures playing poker? It's too bad he didn't win ... but considering how much of a devout Christian he is, at least he can take solace in the fact that somebody named "Jesus" won the whole thing.

That's ... just ... awful. So awful, in fact, that I was close to writing it off as a bad parody of the 80's until I recognized a young Orel Hershiser. (I feel like I should recognize more people, but I was an AL-only kid growing up ...) According to the video's description, this is the '86 Dodgers, who apparently enjoyed popping out of limousines and into night clubs more than actually playing the game -- they finished with a 73-89 record that year, fifth in the NL West. Kudos to Can't Stop the Bleeding for finding this, as well as coming up with the more appropriate headline ever.

You didn't really think he could do it, did you? Brandon Webb surrendered a run in the first inning on Wednesday night's game against the Brewers, ending his streak of consecutive scoreless innings at 42 -- 17 shy of tying Orel Hershiser's record. Webb would have needed back-to-back complete game shutouts to break it, which isn't easy to do. Now that some attention has been brought to the record, I'm thinking it might be as tough to break as Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak. Not surprisingly, Webb is relieved that it's all over:

"It was really a relief," Webb said of the streak coming to an end Wednesday.
...
"I was feeling it a little bit today, with all the attention it was getting, so to get it out of the way in the first inning I think was a relief," Webb said. "And I was able to get back pretty quickly and get back to where I wanted to be and ended up throwing a pretty good ballgame."

The bottom line, as Tom Fornelli pointed out, is that the D-Backs won the game. The final was 3-2, allowing Arizona to remain in first in the NL West by three and a half games. With 34 games left on Arizona's schedule, Webb could throw nothing but complete game shutouts for the rest of the season, and he still wouldn't reach Hershiser's mark. Now that's impressive.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Arizona Diamondbacks (71-56) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (65-61)-9:40PM Est.

The Diamondbacks are hoping that the same Brandon Webb who's taken the mound in his last three starts comes to the park tonight. Webb has pitched three consecutive shutouts, and hasn't given up a run in his last 42 innings of work. Somehow that's only good enough to qualify him for 12th all time-in the early 1900's batters apparently preferred licorice over wooden bats-but it's the longest such streak since Orel Hershiser pitched a record 59 innings without giving up a run in 1988. I'm not saying he can't do it, but I don't think Webb is going to last 18 more innings to break Hershiser's record. Of course, the Diamondbacks won't care as long as he pitches well enough to get them a victory. They're one game away from being swept at home by a Brewers team that's supposed to be falling apart. Instead the Brewers have outscored Arizona 16-4 in the first two games of this series, and remain tied with the Cubs for first place in the NL Central. Jeff Suppan starts for Milwaukee, and he's been the opposite of Brandon Webb lately. He's 0-3 with a 4.88 ERA over his last ten starts and hasn't won since June 22nd.