Open Thread: El Duque

Has there been a more entertaining pitcher in baseball, nevermind just on the Yankees, in the last 20 years than Orlando Hernandez? I don’t think so. The trademark leg kick was every bit for show as it was for throwing the baseball, and he was the kind of guy that was completely unpredictable on the mound. He’d throw eephus pitches, go sidearm, all sorts of stuff. I’ll never forget the time a batted ball got stuck in the webbing of his glove and he just threw the glove over to Tino Martinez at first. Instant classic. I’ll also never forget his first career playoff start, when he fired seven shutout innings in Cleveland with the Yankees down two games to one in the 1998 ALCS. El Duque’s playoff record during his first stint with the Yankees was impeccable, we’re talking 12 team wins in 16 games with a 2.51 ERA in 97 innings pitched. There’s almost zero chance that El Duque was whatever age he claimed to be, but who cares. The guy was an absolute joy to watch on the baseball field, reminding us all that this is just part of the entertainment business.

Once you’re done reminiscing about El Duque, use this as your open thread. The late NFL game has the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers at the Patriots, which should be fun. Unless you have Rodgers on your fantasy team and are in the playoffs, like me. Talk about whatever you want here, just don’t be cool.