Orlando Hernández biography
Orlando Hernández, in full Orlando Hernández Pedroso, byname El Duque, (born October 11, 1965, Villa Clara, Cuba), Cuban baseball pitcher who amassed a won-lost report of 129–47, the very best successful share within the historical past of the Cuban League. After defecting from Cuba in 1997, he pitched within the main leagues, the place he gained a status as a “big game” pitcher, posting a 9–3 report and a 2.55 earned run common in 19 play-off appearances between 1998 and 2005.
Hernández was the son of Arnaldo Hernández, an acclaimed pitcher within the Cuban leagues in the course of the Nineteen Sixties, and, as Orlando’s personal pitching expertise emerged, he inherited his father’s nickname, “El Duque” (the duke). He pitched for the Havana-based Industriales of the Cuban League and was a member of National Series championship groups in 1992 and 1996. He joined the Cuban nationwide workforce in 1988 and starred on the gold medal-winning 1992 Olympic workforce.
In 1995 Hernández’s youthful half-brother Liván, who was additionally a pitcher on the Cuban nationwide workforce, defected to the United States. Suspecting that Orlando would attempt to comply with his brother, the Cuban authorities banned him from enjoying baseball for the remainder of his life. He fled Cuba by boat on December 26, 1997, and ultimately made his method to the United States, the place he signed with the New York Yankees and made his main league debut in 1998.
Hernández’s distinctive pitching fashion, which included a particular high-leg kick and an array of pitches that got here from a number of completely different arm angles, made him a direct success within the main leagues. He helped the Yankees win three consecutive World Series titles (1998–2000) and was named Most Valuable Player of the 1999 American League Championship Series. He signed with the Chicago White Sox in 2005 and was once more a part of a World Series championship workforce. After the 2005 season Hernández was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who in flip traded him to the New York Mets after solely 9 begins. Hernández pitched one further season with the Mets and, after being unable to seek out employment on a significant league workforce for 4 years, retired in 2011.