BGSU to award MLB standout Orel Hershiser with honorary degree during Spring 2025 Commencement

Hershiser has become a champion of the University and its baseball program in recent years

During Spring 2025 Commencement, Bowling Green State University will award former Falcons baseball player and MLB great Orel Hershiser with an honorary doctorate degree in leadership studies, recognizing his ongoing and unwavering support of the University. 

Hershiser will be presented with the degree during the 2 p.m. Commencement ceremony. The BGSU Athletics Hall of Famer also will speak at all three Saturday ceremonies, sharing with graduating students his story of perseverance and journey to becoming an MLB standout. 

Hershiser's freshman season at BGSU proved to be trying, as he was briefly academically ineligible before turning the course of his academic and baseball careers around. He re-committed to his craft and broke out as a sophomore in 1979, which included a no-hitter against Kent State. 

The unleashed potential drew the attention of the Dodgers, who drafted him in the 17th round later that year. 

Hershiser spent 1979 to 1983 in the minor leagues until the Dodgers promoted him in September of that season. When the team broke Spring Training in 1984, Hershiser had won a spot in the rotation. 

After 12 seasons with the Dodgers – where he won the National League Cy Young Award and was named a World Series Most Valuable Player – Hershiser helped the Cleveland Indians win the American League pennant in 1995, their first since 1954, and again in 1997. Later in his career, he pitched for the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets before returning to L.A. 

In retirement, Hershiser has found success inside and outside of baseball, with ventures in the automotive industry and investing, becoming an award-winning broadcaster and even qualifying for the quarterfinals of a professional poker tournament in 2008. 

In recent years, Hershiser has re-engaged with BGSU, becoming a champion of the University, its baseball program and the many opportunities it offers students. 

Since returning to BGSU, Hershiser said the changes to campus are indicative of the momentum at the University. 

"I am so impressed. If you're in high school and you're in Ohio or somewhere nearby — think about Bowling Green. This is a campus you need to come visit because there's extra special stuff going on around here," he told ESPN in 2023. "What's going on in Bowling Green is really big. It's a big-time place. The campus is unbelievable."