Orlando Hernandez
| Full Name : | Orlando Hernandez Pedroso |
| Public : | Orlando Hernandez |
| Nickname : | El Duque |
| Country : | Cuba  |
| DOB : | October 11, 1965 (Age 44) |
| Place : | Villa Clara, Cuba |
| Height : | 6' 2" |
| Weight : | 220 lbs. |
| Sport : | Baseball - MLB |
| Team : | Free Agent |
| Level : | Professional |
| Status : | Very Good |
| Free Agent | |
| Pitcher | |
| Jersey # 26 |
|
| Bats : Right | Throws : Right |
MLB Teams :
New York Mets (2006 - 2008)
Arizona Diamondbacks (2006)
Chicago White Sox (2005)
New York Yankees (2004)
New York Yankees (1998 - 2002)
Achievements :
4x World Series champion (1998, 1999, 2000, 2005)
AL Championship Series MVP (1999)
Orlando Hernández Pedroso is a Cuban professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. Like several Cuban athletes in Major League Baseball, Hernández defected from Cuba to play baseball in the United States. He was born in Villa Clara, Cuba. And like several foreign athletes, he falsified his birth date.
Hernández started his professional career playing in the Cuban National Series where his team Industriales of Havana became the two-time champion, in 1992 and 1996. He also played for the Cuban National Baseball Team during the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, which took home the Gold.
In 1995, after his half-brother's defection from Cuba, Hernández became the object of government scrutiny and was eventually banned from playing baseball. On Christmas Eve of 1997, he defected and was intercepted by the US Coast Guard. With the help of sports agent Mark Cubas and the representatives of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), he was given asylum in Costa Rica. There he negotiated a four-year, $6.6 million contract to play for the New York Yankees.
After his two-year, injury-riddled stint in the New York Mets franchise, Hernández became a free agent following the 2008 season. His future as an MLB player is in question, considering his age and his surmounting injuries.
