His older brother was seated not far behind the visitors dugout, watching younger Livan Hernandez pitch live, in person, for the first time since the two were living and playing in Cuba. Livan Hernandez started for the Marlins yesterday at Shea Stadium and El Duque was in the building, which surely constituted a family dream come true.
“I’m sure he would have been tremendously pleased with a good outing, since his brother was here,” Florida manager John Boles said. “It would have been pretty tough to match what his brother did the other day.”
El Duque flirted with a perfect game Sunday before settling on seven innings of two-hit ball in hurling the Yankees to a 11-2 victory over the Tigers. Sunday night, Orlando and Livan went to dinner. Yesterday, El Duque was part of the sellout crowd that watched Livan crash and burn in the fifth inning and take the loss as the Mets whipped the Marlins 8-1.
“I was happy my brother was here to see me,” Livan said through an interpreter. “But I wasn’t really thinking about that. Once the game starts I concentrate on winning.”
Two brothers growing up together and playing ball is nothing new, but it remains incredible that, because of the separate defections of Livan and then Orlando to the United States, they have not been able to share in each other’s big-league careers. When Livan came up as a phenom in 1997 and became just the second rookie to ever be named World Series MVP, not only was El Duque not in the country, but he could not watch his kid brother’s exploits, as there was a ban on American television in Cuba.
Orlando, 29, could not have been pleased with the way Livan, 24, self-destructed in the bottom of the fifth inning. With No. 8 hitter Rey Ordonez leading off, it should have been easy pickings for Hernandez, but he could not survive the inning. He got Ordonez on a fly ball, but allowed the opposing pitcher, Bobby Jones, to take him deep for his first career home run to break a 1-1 tie and gave the Mets the lead for good.
“You win, you lose,” said Livan, who fell to 0-2 with an earned run average of 9.64. “It was my turn to lose one.”