Orlando Hernández

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**Orlando Hernández**

New York Mets — No. 26
Starting pitcher
Born: October 11, 1965 (1965-10-11) (age 42)
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
June 3, 1998 for the New York Yankees
Selected MLB statistics (through 2007)
Win-Loss	90-65
Earned run average	4.13
Strikeouts	1086
Teams
New York Yankees (1998-2002, 2004) Chicago White Sox (2005) Arizona Diamondbacks (2006) New York Mets (2006-present)

Hernández with the White Sox in 2005

Men's baseball
Olympic medal record
Gold	1992 Barcelona	Team

Orlando Hernández Pedroso (born October 11, 1965 in Havana, Cuba), nicknamed El Duque, is a Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher for the New York Mets. His greatest success came as a New York Yankees starter during that team's run of World Series championships in 1998, 1999, and 2000. He also won a championship in 2005 with the Chicago White Sox.

1 Cuban years
2 Major league career
3 Disputed birth year
4 Trivia
5 Career highlights
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Cuban years

Hernández played for Industriales of Havana in the Cuban National Series, helping the team win that title in 1992 and 1996. He also represented Havana in Selective Series, on teams including Ciudad Habana and Habaneros. He was 126-47 with 3.05 ERA over his ten-year career in the National Series. His career winning percentage in National and Selective Series, .728, is the league record.^[1]

Hernández was also a fixture on the Cuba national baseball team, and was part of the gold-winning Olympic team at Barcelona in 1992.

In September 1995 Orlando Hernández's half-brother Liván Hernández defected from Cuba. Then in July 1996, Orlando Hernández was detained by Cuban state security and interrogated about his relationship to an American sports agent. Three months later, he was banned from Cuban baseball.^[2] On Christmas day 1997, Hernández defected from Cuba, departing on a boat from the small city of Caibarién.^[3] The U.S. Coast Guard interdicted Hernandez, his companion Noris Bosch, another baseball player named Alberto Hernandez (no relation) and five others in Bahamian waters, delivering the entire party to Bahamian authorities in Freeport, who confined them in a detention center for illegal immigrants pending eventual repatriation to Cuba, the usual outcome of such cases.^[4] However, after lobbying by sports agent Mark Cubas and representatives of the Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF), then-Attorney General Janet Reno eventually offered both Hernandezes and Bosch a special status known as "humanitarian parole" that would allow them to enter the U.S., based on (1) what were judged to be realistic fears of persecution should they be returned to Cuba and (2) their status as exceptionally talented athletes, a class of person that — like exceptionally talented people in other professions — can qualify for special admission to the U.S. under State Department rules. ^[5] However, Hernandez declined this offer, eventually accepting an offer of asylum in Costa Rica. If he had immediately become a U.S. resident, he would have been subject to baseball's regular draft and could only have negotiated terms with the team that picked him. As a non-U.S. resident, however, he was able to negotiate as a free agent. After two months in Costa Rica, Hernandez entered the U.S. on a visa arranged by the New York Yankees, with whom he had negotiated a four-year, $6.6 million contract.^[6]

[edit] Major league career

Hernández enjoyed his best year in 1999, with a 17-9 record and setting career-highs in strikeouts (157) and innings pitched (214.1) as a Yankee. After the regular season, he was selected the Most Valuable Player in the American League Championship Series.

In 2005, while pitching for the Chicago White Sox, Hernández delivered a memorable performance in the sixth inning of Game 3 of the 2005 ALDS against the Boston Red Sox. Brought on in relief with the bases loaded and no outs, Hernández induced two fly ball outs before striking out Johnny Damon without surrendering a run. The White Sox would go on to win the game, sweeping the Red Sox out of the playoffs. After the 2005 season, he was traded along with relief pitcher Luis Vizcaíno and the highly touted prospect outfielder Chris Young to the Arizona Diamondbacks for former teammate Javier Vázquez. On May 24, 2006, he was dealt to the New York Mets in exchange for relief pitcher Jorge Julio.

Hernández's debut season in the National League allowed him to attain some offensive feats for the first time in his career. On July 29, 2006, Hernandez drove in the first two RBIs of his career. When asked when was the last time he remembered he drove in a run, Orlando said, "In Cuba". Then, on August 20, 2006, at Shea Stadium, Hernández had the first stolen base of his career (3rd).

Hernández pitched well after his trade to the Mets, going 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts as the Mets won the National League East. His stellar pitching in September, going 2-2 with a 2.01 ERA, earned him the privilege of being named the Mets Game 1 Starter in the 2006 National League Division Series. However, while running sprints in the outfield the day before the playoffs started, Hernández tore a muscle in his calf and had to be scratched from the postseason roster. He was re-signed by the Mets on November 14, 2006.

[edit] Disputed birth year

When Hernández signed with the Yankees in 1998, he claimed to have been born in 1969. In 1999, The Smoking Gun published his divorce decree from Cuba,^[7] which had surfaced in connection with a child support case brought by his ex-wife; the decree revealed him to have been born in 1965. There have even been reports of Hernandez being born sometime between 1957 and 1961. The official site of Major League Baseball still gives his year of birth as 1969, while his pages on ESPN and Baseball-Reference.com list it as 1965.

[edit] Trivia

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When in Cuba, Hernández was known for wearing his socks knee-high, an unusual sight in Cuban baseball.
Along with Tino Martinez, Mark McGwire, José Contreras, Pat Borders, Ed Sprague, and Doug Mientkiewicz, he is one of seven players to have won both a World Series Championship and an Olympic Gold Medal.
Hernandez stole bases in consecutive starts (July 12 & 17, 2007), a feat last accomplished by Tom Seaver, 40 years before also a New York Met at the time. He now has 3 career stolen bases.
He currently resides in Miami, Florida during the off-season.
His nickname comes from "Cuban dominos" or "domino". In Cuba when the #2 is in play (in dominos) the phrase "Duque" is said which means two. Orlando's father who was also a pitcher wore the #2 and was referred to as "EL Duque Hernandez" meaning Hernandez wearing #2 as another teammate had Hernandez as a surname. Orlando was then referred to as "Duquisito" or "little #2". The phrase has nothing to do with the English word for royalty as a royal family has never existed on the island. (for JB from JB)

[edit] Career highlights

4-time World Series Champion (1998 New York Yankees, 1999 New York Yankees, 2000 New York Yankees, 2005 Chicago White Sox.)
American League Championship Series MVP (1999)
2-time Cuban National Series Champion (1992 Havana Industrialies, 1996 Havana Industriales.)
Gold Medalist for Cuban National Baseball Team (1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Guía Digital 2005-06 (Spanish) p. 467. Cocobeisbol (Radiococo.cu). Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ Jamail, Milton H. (2000). Full Count: Inside Cuban Baseball. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, p. 88. ISBN 0809323109.
^ Fainaru, Steve; Ray Sánchez (2003). "Emigration in the Special Period", in Aviva Chomsky, Barry Carr and Pamela Maria Smorkaloff: The Cuba Reader. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, pp. 637-643. ISBN 0822331977.
^ Branigin, William. 1998. "Cuban Baseball Defector Gets 'Humanitarian Parole.'"Washington Post, January 1.
^ Schmitt, Eric. 1998. "U.S. Used Special Authority to Admit Cuban Ballplayers." New York Times, January 2.
^ Haberman, Clyde. 1998. "Asylum Pitch: Persecution or Curveball." New York Times, March 27.
^ The Smoking Gun: Archive (Divorcio Notarial) (Spanish). The Smoking Gun. Retrieved on 2006-10-24. (the decree is in Spanish, with a certified English translation)