WHY EL DUQUE CALLS IT A CAREER

Former Yankee, and former big game pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez has decided to retire. Ever since last pitching in 2007 with the New York Mets, he's been trying to make a comeback to the Bigs, but failing to do so. After short stops with the minor league affiliates of the Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals, El Duque finally had enough and will turn in his spikes for good.



Every Yankee fan should know who El Duque is. He was the guy who didn't always have the greatest numbers in the regular season, but come postseason he turned up the heat. I wrote WHY THE YANKEES MISS EL DUQUE explaining why the Yankees miss a guy like him. For his career El Duque has a career 90-65 record with a 4.13 with the Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Mets. In his postseason career he compiled a 9-3 record with a 2.55 ERA in 106 innings pitched, with a vast majority of those innings as a Yankee. And in the biggest stage, the World Series, he has a 2-1 record in five games, four starts, with a sparkling 2.20 ERA. He won four World Series rings, three with the Yankees, one with Chicago in 2005. He was a Mariano Rivera save away from winning a fifth in 2001, and was three outs away in 2004 for a chance to win a sixth.



Check out this highlight video of El Duque we found on YouTube:





We here at BYB salute you El Duque. You won't make the Hall of Fame, but you'll definitely be invited back for Old Timer's Day at Yankee Stadium every year. You deserve it, you had a great career.









--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer









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WHY THESE ARE THE BEST YANKEE COMMERCIALS EVER

It was a great time in Yankeeland. The late 90's were electric and everything in my life was about the Yanks. I just had to do it, I had to search YouTube for 2 of my favorite commercials from around that time, and put them on Bleeding Yankee Blue. So, do me a favor... share this post with all your Yankee pals. Both commercials bring back such great memories. Thank you Adidas...











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WHY THE YANKEES MISS EL DUQUE

Two years after his brother, Livan Hernandez defected, Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez also fled Cuba. It was Christmas day in 1997 and eventually he signed with the New York Yankees to play baseball in America.

It is probably the best decision he made in his life, because from between the years 1998-2005 alone, El Duque played a huge roll in the four World Series Championships. He won 3 rings with the Yankees, 1998, 1999 and 2000. In 2005, He won with the Chicago White Sox.

In 1998, El Duque joined the Yankees and he had a very impressive season, going 12-4 with a 3.13 ERA, while finishing fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year Award, behind players like Ben Grieve, Rolando Arrojo, and Mike Caruso. Yes, I did not make up those names. Those were really the three players ahead of El Duque for the 1998 AL Rookie of the Year Award.

It really didn't matter winning the Rookie of the Year that year, because it was the Championship that every player really wants and in the post-season in 1998, he flourished. In the ALCS against the defending American League Champion Cleveland Indians, the Yankees were down two games to one, and in Cleveland the Yankees were pretty much in a must win situation. They turned El Duque. And he dominated, pitching seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits while striking out six. That was a lineup filled with Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, David Justice, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, and Sandy Alomar Jr. Very impressive.

In the 1998 World Series he dominated again, against the San Diego Padres. He pitched another seven innings, while allowing just one run while striking out seven.

In his career in the postseason Orlando Hernandez is 9-3 in 19 games. 17 with the Yankees, and in 14 starts he has a 2.55 ERA.
In World Series play, he is 2-1 with a 2.20 ERA in five games, four starts. What's even more impressive is that in the World Series, he has struck out 36 batters in 28.2 innings pitched. He has come up big a number of times for the Yankees in the biggest games.

These days, with Yankee icons like Andy Pettitte retiring, the Yankees don't really have "that guy" like El Duque anymore. Someone they can depend on to take care of business. Someone who could go out there in the biggest games and dominate. Pitchers like A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes really aren't "that guy" because they're either hit or miss in the postseason. Not El Duque. He was the exception. In the post season, he turned it on and never looked back.

Believe it or not, the Yankees may miss a pitcher like El Duque in a rotation like CC, AJ, Hughes, Nova and Garcia. Maybe one day, there will be someone like El Duque again, but for now, he will be remembered as a true Yankee Champion.



--Jesse Schindler, BYB Guest Writer
My Blog: The Pinstriped Personality



Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.