Orel Hygiene

Get a load of some early promo on “Orel Hershiser, Out of the Blue,” the autobio due from Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc. April 3 (opening day of baseball season): “The story of a man who loves his wife, his family, and his country . . . the story of one man’s humble faith in God . . . a book about a man who . . . truly deserves to be a model for youngsters, and a benchmark of character and principled living for us all.” Whew!

We wondered if there wasn’t some itty, bitty flaw in the Dodger World Series hero--so we called Orel’s co-author, Jerry B. Jenkins. The Chicago-based writer told us that when Hershiser first came up to the major leagues, he was ostracized by teammates for being a “Christian ballplayer” and a goody two-shoes--”and being accepted was a big concern for him.”

Orel also confessed that he can get “borderline obnoxious” with teammates when their play on the field is sub-par.

That’s it ?

“Actually, he’s pretty squeaky clean,” Jenkins claimed. “I’d love to give you some dirt if I could, (but) he really is something special. He’s very principled.”