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if it was the end...

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Bay Bud

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...then i'm sad to see eisler livan hernandez end his career.

the mets caught up with hernandez in the sixth inning sunday afternoon at nationals park in d.c. leaving the mound after 5.1 innings, and allowing all of the mets' runs in their 6-3 win, left the bulky cuban 8-13 on the season with a 4.47 e.r.a.

bulky cuban. it's meant with no disrespect to hernandez. nor is the nickname i hung on him after the first time i saw him interviewed on t.v.

livan hernandez arrived in pro baseball a big kid when the florida marlins plucked him off the venezuelan seas in 1996. but he wasn't as big as he'd become, literally and figuratively.

the righty was big on the mound from the beginning. he got his first taste of beisbol americana in the towns of portland, oregon, and charlotte, north carolina. less than nine months after he was signed following his escape from cuba, he was pitching on a big league mound.

a season later, the half brother of orlando 'el duque' hernandez was helping pitch the marlins to their first world series title.

during that '97 season there was a segment done on his rise to the big leagues after escaping from castro's cuba. there was a photo of him when he first arrived in venezuela after leaving his native country, and he was big kid but not filled out in the face, chest and belly like he was quickly after arriving in the usa amidst fanfare.

stories from his first few years in the land of aplenty was livan couldn't pass a fast-food joint, especially the one with the golden arches, without stopping for a bite.

in the interview, a reporter noted livan looked a bit heavier than when he first arrived and asked how much he weighed. the marlins rookie answered with a smile and in his best english, "two hundred, thirty pounds and a quarter." you could hear a player behind him mutter, "and you can add another quarter-pounder to that in a few hours."

i really have a hard time thinking this was his final start in the major leagues. were the powers in my control, i'd have the man at least pitching in my minor leagues as the sixth starter in a 5-man rotation.

but if it was your final big league appearance, quarter pounder, i shall miss seeing your name in the boxscores. viva cuba, compadre, viva cuba!
 
I get a good feeling when I think of Livan Hernandez. Must be my sub-conscious telling me I have made money on him over the years.

Nice article BB. You certainly take a more poetic view of professional baseball players than me, but it is well written no doubt.