Orlando Hernandez, the seasoned Cuban baseball veteran who signed with the Yankees as an international free agent in 1978, struck out 13 batters in a 2-0 win against the Texas Rangers at The Stadium on this day in baseball, August 13, 1998. Hernandez, then 32 years old (or likely more, considering how Cuban free agents often fudged their birth dates), joined the Yankees in midseason and immediately made his mark on a top-notch starting staff that included David Cone, Andy Pettitte, David Wells and Japanese import Hideki Irabu. The righty with the funky, high-kick delivery nicknamed “El Duque” — the

Few teams in history have bullied another in the course of a season like the Yankees did to the Orioles in 2019. The Bombers basically held the Birds up by their ankles and stole their lunch money all year, winning the 19-game season series 17-2 — which included 16 straight wins — while hitting 61 home runs and scoring an average of nearly 8 runs per game against atrocious Baltimore pitching. And no one player totally feasted on the Orioles like Yankees middle infielder Gleyber Torres, whose impressive stats in just his second MLB season —38 HR, 90 RBI —

He only played in nine seasons, and just twice did he play more than 130 games in a year. Yet Carlos Quentin was a feared slugger who got almost as much as he gave. The outfielder hit 154 career home runs — and was hit by a pitch 127 times. On this day in béisbol, Aug. 11, 2008, Quentin, playing for the White Sox, was plunked by Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t be big news. For Quentin, who had a reputation for leaning over the plate, it was the 19th time he’d been hit that season. But

On this day in béisbol, Aug. 10, 2019, two rookies in different leagues had huge games that got them into the MLB records book. Playing against the Orioles in Baltimore, Houston Astros phenom Yordan Alvarez went deep three times in a 23-2 rout. The three homers, including a grand slam and a two-run shot, were good for 7 RBI, giving Alvarez 51 runs batted in just 45 games. It beat Ted Williams’ rookie record of 47 set in 1939.  Alvarez, of Las Tunas, Cuba, would only play 87 games for the pennant-winning Astros, but his 27 HR, 78 RBI, .313

Any conversation about who is the best Latino pitcher of all time will invariably come down to Hall of Famers Juan Marichal and Pedro Martinez. But there’s another Martinez — Dennis — who deserves some mention, if only because he ended his solid 23-career in 1998 as the winningest Latin American-born pitcher in MLB history with 245 wins, a record he held for 20 years until Bartolo Colon passed him in 2008.  On this day in béisbol, Aug. 9, 1998, the Nicaragua-born Martinez got his 244th major league win in relief to pass Marichal for the top spot among Latino

By 1973, few fans would have argued against the general consensus that Orlando Cepeda was washed up at 35. They were wrong.  Yes, the 16-year veteran, plagued by injuries and age over the past couple of seasons, would have likely hung up his spikes by then if not for the American League’s new designated hitter position that gave new life to aging sluggers. But Cepeda’s signing with the Boston Red Sox paid immediate dividends when he blossomed as a full-time DH. On this day in béisbol, Aug. 8, 1973, the Ponce, Puerto Rico native known as “The Baby Bull” tied

Built like a beer keg on legs, Bartolo Colon always looked like he belonged slinging softballs in a Sunday league than on a Major League mound.  Boy, are looks deceiving.   Not only did the well-traveled Dominican Republic native enjoy a 21-year career with 11 different teams, on this day in béisbol, Aug. 6, 2018, the 45-year-old righty became the all-time leader in wins for a Latino pitcher. No. 246 came with the Texas Rangers in an 11-4 victory against Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez. It moved him past Nicaragua-born Dennis Martinez, who retired in 1998 at age 44 with

Say what you will about Jose Canseco's cartoon muscles, blatant steroid use and off-the-field antics, but the Oakland Athletics outfielder was a dynamic and exciting player early in his career who was always fun to watch at the plate. But the massive slugger’s size — 6’4” and 240 pounds — belied his speed, and on this day in béisbol, August 6, 1988, the Cuban-born Canseco became the 11th player to join the exclusive 30-30 Club: 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in one season. He already had 31 homers on the year when he stole second in the ninth