The Beasts of the American League

With Opening Night being a few hours away, I wanted to look at three teams that I think are the teams to beat in their respective divisions. Now obviously things like slumps, failed expectations and critical injuries have a way or derailing a team's championship dreams. But I think these three AL teams will be the pace setters of their respective divisions.

American League East

How can I go against the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East: Baseball's most competitive division. Since 2008, the Rays have made the postseason three times and lost in the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008. They've averaged 90 wins a year during that stretch with a franchise high of 97 in 2008.

Led by franchise players Evan Longoria and David Price, I believe the Rays are primed for a damned good run this season. Gone are outfielder BJ Upton and starter James "Big Game" Shields but Tampa received  one of the game's top prospects in Wil Meyers in that trade who was  impressive in Spring Training and will start the season with the Triple-A Durham Bulls. Upton's departure opens the door in center for Desmond Jennings to play in a full-time capacity. "Super" Sam Fuld will get a chance to bounce back from a disappointing 2012 and Matt Joyce will play rightfield.

The infield will be anchored by third baseman Evan Longoria and free agent signing James Loney will hold down the first base position. The middle infield will be populated by shortstop Yuniel Escobar who the Rays acquired in a trade with the Miami Marlins and Ben Zobrist will play second base, as well as, every other position on the diamond at some point during the season. Jose Molina will be the man behind the plate for the Rays. Kelly Johnson will also see time at second base.

 Though the pitching staff seems to have lost a step with the trading of James Shields, by no means are they understaffed. Heading up the staff that lead the league with a .314 team ERA is the AL Cy Young Award winner David Price. Follwing Price will be Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore and rounding out the rotation (for now) is Alex Cobb and Roberto Hernandez. The bullpen is solid with closer Fernando Rodney coming off an impressive display in the World Baseball Classic and Kyle Farnsworth, Joel Peralta and Jeff Neiman filling in the 6th to 8th innings. 

If his pieces stay healthy, I see Joe Maddon's Rays making a full season run to the American League East Title

- 2013 Tampa Bay Rays Projected Lineup

American League Central

The Detroit Tigers are heads and shoulders above the rest of the division and possibly are the most well rounded team in the American League. The team that made the World Series last year will only get better with the addition of Torii Hunter and the return of C/DH Victor Martinez. I believe that Hunter will provide a valuable learning resource for the ever improving Austin Jackson. Designated Hitter Martinez gives Prince Fielder some much needed protection from the 5 hole in the lineup. And I don't need to mention the reigning AL MVP. Right? Ok, moving on.

The outfield looks like it will be made up of the aforementioned Hunter and Jackson along with Andy Dirks. The infield will be anchored on the corners by All-Stars Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder at third and first respectively with Jhonny Peralta at short and Omar Infante at 2nd base. The ever consistent Alex Avila will be behind the plate for the Tigers.

If the lineup was solid, the rotation is even more so. The starting five of Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez and Rick Porcello makes for a deep rotation. Add Drew Smyly to that mix and it gets even more impressive. The bullpen might be the team's weak spot since there isn't one particular player to step up and grab the closer's role. The closing will be done by committee with Phil Coke or Octavio Dotel looking to me as being the player to settle into the role.

I think the Detroit Tigers will thoroughly thrash the American League Central division giving manager Jim Leyland another chance to make it to the World Series.

-  2013 Detroit Tigers Projected Lineup

American League West

One word describes the Angels offense: SCARY!!!!!!! As if a team with Albert Pujols, Mike Trumbo and AL Rookie of the Year Mike Trout wasn't scary enough, Angels owner Arte Moreno goes out and plucks Josh Hamilton from division rival Texas Rangers. Add Howie Kendrick, Albert Callaspo, speedy centerfielder Peter Bourjous and franchise mainstay Erick Aybar and you have a solid lineup from top to bottom. The lineup was deemed solid enough that Kendry Morales was traded to division rival Seattle Mariners for workhorse pitcher Jason Vargas. Chris Ianneta will round up the lineup and man the rotation from behind the plate. 

Where the offense is scary, the pitching is slightly so. Not to say that a rotation headed by Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson is shoddy, but the trading away of Earvin Santana, the free agent loses of Dan Haren to Washington and Zack Greinke to the Los Angeles Dodgers makes for three decent sized holes to fill. Luckily the Angels have the aforementioned Jason Vargas who put up solid numbers with the Mariners last season (12-11 4.21 ERA in 199 innings pitched with 127 K's and 52 walks for a WHIP of 1.28) and National League mainstays Joe Blanton and Tommy Hanson round out the starting five. The Bullpen is a bit more dominating with fireballer Ernesto Fieri being backed up by Ryan Madson. Rounding out the bullpen are Scott Downs, Kevin Jepsen and Sean Burnett among others. 

I think this season is when the Angels set franchise records in runs scored and homeruns. If Pujols can start strong, this team will be difficult to beat.

- 2013 Los Angeles Angels Projected Lineup

Just a few points on the rest of the American League. In the East, I want to see how the Blue Jays play well together. As we saw with the Marlins last season, just because you put All-Star caliber players together, it doesn't guarantee that they will win games. I want to see if the Orioles are the real deal or if they were just a "flash in the pan" with their performance last season. The Yankees are injury riddled and to be honest, as much as I like to see them shift from power baseball to small ball I don't know if the pitching staff will be enough to keep them in games if runs aren't manufactured. The Red Sox are in the same boat (albeit for different reasons) as the Yankees: Both teams need to rebuild in markets where the word REBUILDING does not want to be heard.

In the American League Central the White Sox will be the team to stay somewhat close to the Tigers with the Royals, Indians and Twins all trailing the pack. The Royals will continue to improve with Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and staff ace James Shields and the newly stocked Indians of Nick Swisher and Michael Bourne need to get some pitching to accompany the new bats. The Twins specifically are looking at 2014 to be the year when they jump back into the fray.  

In the American League West, the Rangers power has been depleted with the losses of Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli and Michael Young. The looming free agency of Elvis Andrus might prove to be story of the year for Texas. As with the Orioles, I want to see if the A's are the real deal. The Mariners seem to be putting the pieces in place to continue to improve behind Felix Hernandez. The Astros? Well all I can say is welcome to the American League.

So there you have it folks. Next post will be the Beasts of the National League. Let me know what you think about these predictions.

Sisco Kid

Good Friday For Verlander and Posey

It was announced today that  franchise players Justin Verlander of the American League Champion Detroit Tigers and Buster Posey of the World Champion San Francisco Giants agreed to multi-year extensions.

Justin Verlander was signed to a 5-year $140-million dollar extension which starts during the 2015 season. He was already signed for 2013 and 2014 at $20-million per year from the five-year, $79.5 million contract he signed after the 2009 season.  According to the article Verlander agrees to record five-year extension by Jason Beck of MLB.com:

Verlander will make $28 million each season from 2015-2019, the years of the extension, and could vest a $22 million option for 2020 if he finishes in the top five in Cy Young voting in 2019. option for 2020 is $22-million.

In total, his contract calls for a total of 7-years $180-million which breaks down to an average of $25.7 million per year.

Buster Posey signed a 9-year $167-million contract extension. According to the article Buster Posey gets $167M, 9-year deal from Giants by Janie McCauley of the Associated Press:

Posey had been due to make $8 million this year. He instead gets a $7 million signing bonus, with $5 million payable Oct. 15 and the remainder Jan. 15, and his 2013 salary is reduced to $3 million.

He will make $10.5 million in 2014, $16.5 million in 2015, $20 million in 2016 and $21.4 million in each of the following five seasons. The Giants' option is for $22 million with a $3 million buyout

I'm not sure if the Verlander deal with payoff in the long haul but it is good to see both them and the Giants spending money to keep their own players that they develop. I've always said that doing that is the way to go.

So with the amount of money signed by both the Tigers and the Giants, the Los Angeles Dodgers, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the St. Louis Cardinals with the Wainright extension, I don't want to hear complaints from Baseball fans that the New York Yankees keep overpaying players and signing them to long contracts. It seems that the rest of the league is starting to open those cash caches that Forbes recently reported that teams seem to have.

Sisco Kid

For Further Reading
- Click Here to access the career statistics for Justin Verlander from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access the career statistics for Buster Posey from Baseball Reference.com

My Picks For Division Standings

This is just a quick breakdown on how I think the divisions will end up. I'll do an in depth review in a few days. Mind you this is based on where the teams stand right now. Here goes:

American League East 
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays
Baltimore Orioles
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox

American League Central
Detroit Tigers
Chicago White Sox
Kansas City Royals
Cleveland Indians
Minnesota Twins

American League West
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Oakland Athletics
Texas Rangers
Seattle Mariners
Houston Astros

National League East
Washington Nationals
Atlanta Braves
Philadephia Phillies
New York Mets
Miami Marlins

National League Central
Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago Cubs

National League West
San Francisco Giants
Los Angeles Dodgers
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
San Diego Padres

Ok. There it is. Agree? Disagree? Let me know.

Sisco Kid

Se Retira Edgar Renteria Del Beisbol Professional

Though he was out of Major League Baseball since the end of the 2011 season, Edgar Renteria offically retired from Baseball on March 20, 2013. In doing so, Renteria goes down as one of the best players to ever come out of the country of Colombia. Renteria was the fourth player from Colombia in MLB and has the longest career to date for Colombian born major leaguers. With two World Series rings and the MVP trophy of the 2010 World Series with the San Francisco Giants, his legacy is cemented. It is crazy to think that he was only 20 years old he went 3-for-5 including a walk-off single in the 11th inning driving in Craig Counsell in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series against the Cleveland Indians. Seems like yesterday. And here we are 16 years later.

Renteria signed with the then Florida Marlins in 1992 as an amateur free agent and spent most of four years in the minors before he was called up in 1996. Renteria played for a total of seven teams (Marlins/Cardinals/Red Sox/Braves/Tigers/Giants/Reds) and put up the following career statistics:

Player		G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI		BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG	OPS
Edgar Renteria		2152	8142	1200	2327	436	29	140	923		718	1182	294	108	.343	.398	.286	.741

It seemed to me that Renteria was a better player while in the National League than in the American. It was percieved by many Boston faithful that he failed in his only season in Fenway. It was also deemed to be the same in Detroit. Granted his offensive numbers were a little less than what he was putting up in the National League, he put up a career high in strikeouts with 100 whiffs. His defensive numbers in Boston were downright horrible. He went from 11 errors the year before with the Cardinals to 30 with the Red Sox. No wonder he was run out of Boston in the trade with the Atlanta Braves with cash included in 2005.

Though by the time he was playing with the Giants in their World Series title year of 2010 he wasn't a full time player any longer, he was still a consistent presence in the lineup hitting .412 with 7 hits, 2 homers and 6 RBI in 17 at-bats against the Texas Rangers in the World Series.

I personally believe that his best year was in 2003 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Player		G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI		BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG	OPS
Edgar Renteria		157	587	96	194	47	1	13	100		65	54	34	7	.394	.480	.330	.874

Renteria put up career highs in average, hits, doubles, RBI's, walks, slugging percentage, OPS, and a career low in strikeouts. Renteria was an all-star, won his second Gold Glove and was awarded the Silver Slugger for the National League Shortstop position. He was came in 15th in MVP voting.

Overall, Renteria put up a solid career in MLB. I don't think he will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown but he might surprise some people in terms of vote percentage. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Renteria will pick up some coaching duties at some point both here in the U.S. but also in his native Colombia.

FH

For Further Reading:

- Click Here to access Edgar Renteria's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Click Here to access Edgar Renteria's carrer major AND minor league statistics from Baseball Cube.com

- Click Here to access the list of all Colombian born Major Leaguers from Baseball Reference.com

Angel Pagan Esta Encendido

Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees is getting a majority of the press (and deservedly so) for his performance for Team Dominican Republic in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Here are his stats in 7 World Baseball Classic games (courtesy of World Baseball Classic statistics page):

Player	Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG	OPS
Robinson Cano	2B	7	29	5	15	4	0	2	6	25	2	7	0	0	.548	.862	.517	1.410

Impressive indeed. But there is another player who seems to have stepped up with the world spotlight shining on him in this international tournament. He is none other than San Francisco Giants centerfielder Angel Pagan. Here are his statistics in 8 World Baseball Classic games (courtesy of the 2013 World Baseball Classic statistics page):

Player	Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG	OPS
Angel Pagan	CF	8	30	2	11	2	1	0	2	15	4	5	2	0	.441	.500	.367	.941

Where Carlos Beltran came in as the marquee name for the Puerto Rican team, it seems to me that Angel Pagan is now the man for Team Borinquen. I see Pagan carrying over his performance in this tournament straight into the upcoming season for the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants (courtesy of the 2012 Major League Baseball statistics page)

Player	Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG	OPS
Angel Pagan	CF	154	605	95	174	38	15	8	56	266	48	97	29	7	.338	.440	.288	.778

I believe the sky is the limit for Rio Piedras resident Angel Pagan especially after resigning with the Giants this past offseason for a veritable bargain rate of 4-years $45 million dollars through 2016 he has nowhere to look but up. 

What do you think folks. Agree? Disagree?

On a side note, I saw this written about Pagan in the article U.S. falls flat in World Baseball Classic; does the country even care? by Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports!:

Before Friday night's game, Pagan gathered his teammates, bulged his eyes and shouted about honor and dignity and the kids back home who needed a light to follow. They could be their lights, he told them. "It's something to project for the kids," Pagan said. "You have a responsibility. I think it sends the perfect message: Names don't win ballgames."...So when that last baseball soared into center field, as his teammates rushed from the dugout to the mound, as they zigzagged from their positions looking for someone to hug, Pagan was the only one who waited for it to come down. "When I caught that ball, I was thinking of my country," he said. "Hopefully, Puerto Rico is proud of us."

I would say that they are Angel. Keep up the good work.

FH

What Happened to Dan Uggla

It hindsight seems that the Miami Marlins who take a lot of heat (and deservedly so) for their salary dumps is definitely the winner of the Dan Uggla trade that they made with the Atlanta Braves in 2010. Granted Omar Infante was traded to Detroit last season with Anibal Sanchez and 2013 compensation draft pick round A to the Detroit Tigers for minor leaguer Brian Flynn, Rob Brantly, Jacob Turner and 2013 compensation draft pick round B and Mike Dunn is a fixture in their bullpen, if they had chosen to resign Uggla, they might be stuck with a player who is playing way below expectations. Here is what I said about the trade in my blogpost The Florida Marlins Play the Trade Game from November 16, 2010:

It was reported that the Marlins were trying to sign Uggla to a 4-year 48-million dollar extension which Uggla rejected. It is believed that Uggla was looking for a deal in the 5-year 71-million dollar range...From what I've read, the general consensus believes that the Marlins basically gave away Uggla and to a division rival no less. Uggla has been an offensive force for the Marlins from the second base position who in 5 major league season is hitting an average of .263 with 32 Homeruns and 97 RBI. Uggla is good for about 161 hits a season (35 2B/3 3B/32 HRs) and an OPS of .837 (.347 OBP/.488 SLG). Uggla is also a consistent player having played an average of 155 games per season. Economically, the deal might benefit the Marlins more...Had they not traded Uggla now, they might have ended up trading him during the season with risking losing him after next season.

Look at his numbers while with the Marlins: .263 with 32 Homeruns and 97 RBI. Uggla is good for about 161 hits a season (35 2B/3 3B/32 HRs) and an OPS of .837 (.347 OBP/.488 SLG). I don't know if it was the tropical sunshine in Miami that had Uggla hitting like that but he sure isn't hitting that way in Atlanta.

In his two seasons with the Braves, Uggla is averaging a .227 batting average with 28 homeruns and 80 RBI. He's been good for 132 hits (26 2B/0 3B/28 HRs) and an OPS of .750 (.329 OBP/.421 SLG). He's below his career average in all catergories. I can't even blame it on him striking out more in Atlanta than when he was in Florida. He averaged 158 K's with 76 walks with the Marlins and in Atlanta he's averaged 162 K's and 78 walks.

Perhaps he has regressed in terms of plate discipline. And looking at his spring training performance this season, the regression seems to have continued. In 55 at-bats Uggla is hitting .182 with only 10 hits with 1 HR, no other extra base hits, 3 walks and 19 strikeouts.

Defensively he's no worse than he was in Florida. He's a decent fielder who you can count on playing 154 or more games a season (his lowest was 146 in 2008). I would say that perhaps a change of scenery would benefit Uggla but with the Atlanta Braves on the hook for $39 million dollars over the next three season, it would seem that they are both stuck with each other.

Can Uggla snap out of his apparent hitting funk? Can hitting coach Greg Walker help Uggla find his stroke or will this go down as one of the worst trades ever made by the usually reliable Atlanta Braves.


What do you think. Let me know.

Sisco Kid

For Further Reading
- Click Here to Access Dan Uggla's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Porcello Trade Talks in Motown

The talk of this preseason for the Tigers is the potential trade of starter Rick Porcello by the end of Spring Training. Porcello is 24 years old and was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1st round (27th pick) of the 2007 amateur draft. Porcello would be called up during the 2009 season finishing with a 14-9 record with a 3.96 ERA in 31 games started. In four years with the Tigers, Porcello has a 48-42 career record with a 4.59 ERA. He isn't a power pitcher. He averages 109 strikeouts a season but he has been an effective starter. So why all the trade talks.

It would seem that Porcello has been deemed tradeable since the Tigers signed Anibal Sanchez to a 5-year $80-million dollar head shaking of a deal during the offseason. Why head shaking? At 29 years of age, Sanchez has been in the league seven years and has a 48-51 career record with a career 3.75 ERA. His best season was in 2006 when he went 10-3 with a 2.83 ERA. As I said then (and still believe now) why would the Tigers spend so much money on this guy. I mean who knows. Maybe the pitching staff saw something in Sanchez that they felt worked well in Detroit. But to sign Sanchez and make Porcello expendable makes no sense to me.

As it stands, Porcello has been on point this Spring Training. As Lynn Henning of the Detroit News in his article Trading Rick Porcello makes most sense for the Tigers states:

Porcello has been dynamite this spring, as opposing teams' scouts have noted in reports to their front-office bosses. He has scrapped his old nemesis, the slider, and has fashioned a dandy curveball as his second pitch.

His flagship pitch remains his sinker, and never has it showed as much pop or downward bite as it has this spring, with Porcello throwing sinkers and four-seam fastballs that have cruised consistently in the 90-94-mph range.

His change-up has been solid. And, as the numbers show, he has been throwing all of his pitches not only for strikes but for well-located strikes.

The Tigers have done well in recent years with free agent signings and trades. Perhaps there's a reason why they do what they do and I am here writing about it on a blog page. =) I just don't see the wisdom in parting with a young potential cornerstone of your pitching staff because you've locked into a pitcher who, in my opinion, is not as good. I guess time will tell whether or not Detroit trades Porcello AND if Sanchez proves me wrong by succeeding in Motown.

What do you think. Let me know.

Sisco Kid

For Further Reading
-Click Here to Access Rick Porcello's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
-Click Here to Access Anibal Sanchez's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez 15 Years Later

 15 years ago on March 7, amid fanfare the New York Yankees signed Cuban defector Orlando Hernandez, who is the half-brother of Livan Hernandez. The man known as "El Duque" would live up to his reputation from his playing days in Cuba by successfully pitching in 4 different World Series (1998, 1999, 2000 with the Yankees 2005 with the White Sox).

I remember when the Yankees signed him, there were some reservations among fans who were still thinking about the mass media signing of another foreign "can't miss" pitcher Hideki Irabu who didn't live up to the expectations placed on him here in New York. Not only did El Duque succeed during the regular season, his performances in the post season place him up there with many of the best.

After defecting from Cuba on Christmas Day 1997, Hernandez signed a 4-year $6.6 million dollar deal with the Yankees. After a number of starts in single-A and a handful of starts in AAA Columbus, El Duque made his debut with the Yankees on June 3, 1998. Against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, El Duque held the Devil Rays to five hits and one run over seven innings. In the Yankee record season of 114-48, El Duque compiled a 12-4 record with 3.13 ERA placing 4th in the American League Rookie of the Year Vote. In a sign of things to come in the post-season, Hernandez neutralized the only team that could stop the Yankees in 1998, the Cleveland Indians.

In Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, El Duque hurled strong seven shoutout innings where he only allowed three hits. The Yankees would tie the series at 2-2 and eventually win the series in 6 games. El Duque would also pitch a masterful game against the San Diego Padres in Game Two of the World Series pitching seven innings of one run baseball. The Yankees would sweep the Padres for the first of three consecutive World Series and four of five (including 1996).

1999 would prove to be El Duque's most successful season. El Duque made 33 starts compiling an impressive 17-9 record with a 4.12 ERA. He would be even more impressive in the post-season when he started four games and finished with a 4-0 record in which he only allowed just four earned runs in 30 innings pitched including winning two games in the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox. In Game One of the World Series, El Duque would be matched up against Greg Maddux who finished the season with another 19-win season. In that game, El Duque out-dueled Maddux by strucking out ten while just allowing one hit to beat the Braves and start a four game sweep and a second consecutive World Series title for the Yankees.

His 2000 campaign would be disappointing with a 12-13 record with a 4.51 ERA in 29 starts but El Duque kept his best for the post-season. In four starts, El Duque went 3-1 losing his first post-season start against the Mets. In the 2000 post-season, El Duque beat the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners (twice). In total, El Duque would strikeout a total of 31 batters in 29.2 innings pitched during all four playoff starts.

In the postseasons during the Yankee three-peat years of 1998-2000, El Duque El Duque was 2-0 and 0.64 ERA in 1998, 3-0 with a 1.20 ERA in 1999 and  3-1 with a 3.94 ERA in 2000. Truly remarkable.

Injuries would be the downfall for El Duque. From 2001-2002, El Duque would go 12-12 with a 4.11 ERA in 41 total games. In five postseason appearances during 2001-2002, El Duque would go 2-3 for the Yankees as the Championship run came to an end. At the end of the 2002 season, El Duque would be traded to the Chicago White Sox then traded again to the Montreal Expos for the 2003 season but would not pitch for them. He would miss the entire 2003 season with shoulder injuries.

He would return to the Yankees for the 2004 season and after being granted free agency, El Duque signed with the Chicago White Sox. Though his season performance was a somewhat lackluster 9-9 with a 5.12 ERA, El Duque saved his last bit of magic for the American League Division Series against the World Series Champions Boston Red Sox. With the Red Sox down 2-0 in Fenway Park trailing the White Sox 4-3 but seemingly reaching into the bag of miracles, El Duque was brought in from the bullpen by manager Ozzie Guillen. Facing El Duque was bases loaded with NO outs and Red Sox Captain Jason Varitek at the plate. I remember the day vividly. I was working at Fraunces Tavern and we were full to the brim with people watching the game.

Varitek would pop out. Tony Graffanino would line out to shortstop Juan Uribe and in arguably his most important post-season strikeout, El Duque made Johnny Damon miss ball four with a check swing that would have tied the game had Damon been able to hold his swing. El Duque would pitch two more innings for the Chisox, striking out a total of four batters leading the White Sox to a three game sweep of the Champs and setting the tone for the White Sox breaking their own World Series drought when they would eventually beat the Angels in 5-games and the Houston Astros in a four game sweep to bring the World Series trophy to the South Side of Chicago for the first time since 1917.

El Duque would pitch for a couple of more years before he would be released by the Texas Rangers during the 2010 season effectively ending his career. In total, El Duque would finish with 90-65 record with a career 4.13 ERA. In the postseason, El Duque went 9-3 with a 2.55 ERA 107 strikeouts in 106 innings pitched with four World Series titles to his name. El Duque was definitely something special to watch with his high socks and his high leg kick.

Gracias para las memorias Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez.

FH

- Click Here to Access Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com