Cuban defector Livan Hernandez came to the United States two years ago in hopes of living out the American dream.
Money. Fast cars. Baseball. Fast food.
Instant success, however, wasn’t in the cards. Too many cheeseburgers, too many luxury cars and a $2.5 million signing bonus may have set back the talented but unproven Marlins pitcher on his road to big-league stardom.
But everything changed in the life of Livan Hernandez Sunday afternoon in Miami. The 22-year-old rookie outdueled Atlanta’s Greg Maddux in Florida’s 2-1 victory over the Braves in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, putting the Marlins one win away from the World Series.
Hernandez threw a three-hitter and set an NLCS record with 15 strikeouts after being asked to substitute for flu-weakened right-hander Kevin Brown, the Marlins’ ace.
In a series full of unlikely stories, Hernandez’s tale may be hard to top. He gained nearly 30 pounds in his first year of pro ball and became a conspicuous consumer, buying a Mercedes, a Ferrari and a truck after signing a three-year, $4.5 million deal.
“Coming to the States and having the opportunity to eat at McDonald’s and buy cars and do all the freedom things he wasn’t used to, he was a little out of shape,” said first baseman Jeff Conine, an original Marlin. “But this year he was very committed, very focused.”
Hernandez, through an interpreter, more or less agreed. “When people arrive in this country, they arrive blind,” he said. “They don’t know what they’re getting into, what opportunities are ahead for them. I started to get accustomed to it this year. It’s hard to get accustomed to it, but now I’m used to the American way of life.”
Hernandez showed what was in store in the first inning, after a leadoff triple by Kenny Lofton and a walk to Keith Lockhart. Going almost exclusively with breaking balls on the outside corner, he struck out Chipper Jones, Fred McGriff and Ryan Klesko to escape unscathed.
“It was almost like we had no chance,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said. Cox and the Braves complained about plate umpire Erig Gregg’s wide strike zone.
Maddux, now 0-2 in this NLCS, began with an uncharacteristic lack of control, hitting leadoff man Devon White on the leg and walking Gary Sheffield to put two on with one out. Bobby Bonilla’s single scored White with the game’s first run, but Michael Tucker homered off Hernandez in the second, tying the score 1-1.
That’s where it stood until the seventh, when Bonilla hit a shot to right that Tucker momentarily had in his glove at the wall. But when Tucker rammed the wall, the ball–and one of his contact lenses–popped out. Bonilla wound up on second with a double, and Tucker was forced to leave the game after a long and fruitless search for his missing lens.
After the delay, Maddux gave up a first-pitch single to Conine, who had been 0 for 13 in the NLCS, bringing Bonilla home with the go-ahead run.
