Hershiser Has the Stage to Himself

By the time Orel Hershiser reaches Dodger Stadium this evening to interview for the managerial opening, General Manager Paul DePodesta will have heard from scouts, minor league coordinators and perhaps even farm director Terry Collins -- who also happens to be a leading candidate to become manager -- during the first day of organizational meetings.

Then he will resume searching for the next Bobby Cox. The Atlanta Brave skipper is the preeminent active manager in DePodesta’s estimation, embodying humility, adaptability, composure in the dugout, and, oh, don’t forget those 14 consecutive playoff appearances.

Hershiser, the former Dodger pitching great, will have the full attention of DePodesta and his assistants, Kim Ng and Roy Smith, for several hours.

Dodger President Jamie McCourt probably will pop into the room, as she did during interviews with other candidates, as will Tom Lasorda, special advisor to owner Frank McCourt.

Hershiser, 47, the Texas Ranger pitching coach since 2002, is anticipating Dodger reservations about his never having managed at any level and about the nearly nonexistent success former pitching coaches have had as managers.

In fact, taking the mound in the majors is close to a disqualifier.

Only Lasorda, Clark Griffith, Harry Wright, Fred Hutchinson and Roger Craig among the top 100 winningest managers were big league pitchers.

“I will draw from my experiences, from experts from all points of the game, from Dodgers and non-Dodgers, from current managers and non-managers,” Hershiser said. “It’s about being yourself and being exposed to wisdom and knowledge and being the filter that says, ‘Go down that path.’ ”

There is little chance the Dodgers would announce their decision before Thursday. The World Series must conclude and DePodesta has said that Frank McCourt will meet with more than one finalist.

Besides Collins, the other candidates interviewed were Dodger triple-A manager Jerry Royster, San Francisco bench coach Ron Wotus, fired Detroit manager Alan Trammell and Cleveland minor league manager Torey Lovullo.

Is there a budding Bobby Cox among them?

Atlanta General Manager John Schuerholz recently explained Cox’s success this way: “What Bobby has been doing for 15 years is taking all different manners of teams and meshing players from various backgrounds and various organizations, and bringing in young players from our organization, and building them into a team, so that each year the result is a championship club.”

Can Hershiser measure up?

“When I was a pitcher coming up to the majors, I was taught by pitchers and catchers -- Sandy Koufax, Roy Campanella, Ron Perranoski and Del Crandall,” he said. “At the time I didn’t say I want to be Campy or Koufax, I wanted to be the best Orel Hershiser I could be.

“So I don’t project myself to be someone else. It’s the same way I’ll approach managing. I want to be myself.”