By George King. NY Post.
April 27, 2001 -- When Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez takes the
Yankee Stadium mound tonight, he not only will be wondering how his right elbow
will react after eight days off, but he'll also have his father's health on his
mind.
El Duque fears his father is suffering from lung cancer in Cuba and was
worried to the point where he refused to talk to the media about anything before
last night's 7-3 loss to the Mariners.
While El Duque is concerned about his father, he hadn't mentioned it to Joe
Torre as of late yesterday afternoon.
"If it's bad, I will hear about it," Torre said.
While family illness is no stranger to the Yankees, this one is a lot
different because El Duque can't pick up and go visit his father in Cuba like
Bernie Williams was recently able to do with Bernabe Sr. in Puerto Rico.
"I don't think Fidel [Castro] would be for that," Torre said of El
Duque visiting his homeland.
As for tonight, Torre has been told by El Duque that an elbow problem that
forced him out of his last start after three innings has vanished.
"I have talked to him casually and he says he is OK," Torre said
of El Duque, who is 0-2 with a hefty 5.84 ERA in three starts. "He felt
good and threw all his pitches [in the bullpen Tuesday]."
Asked if he was eager to see El Duque pitch, Torre said, "I got other
things to get anxious about. We left it up to him. The most important thing is
that he is healthy. I made that very clear to him." |