Hernandez reflects on Jeter’s career

“One of the first people who welcomed me was Derek Jeter,” Hernandez recalled. “Even though I was much older than him and had more time playing baseball–playing in the Major Leagues, and with the New York Yankees, was something completely different–and to feel that I was welcome was very valuable to me,” he added.

“At that time I was very young, but I was already starting to show how great I would be in the future,” said Hernández, who debuted with the Yankees in the middle of the 1998 season, when New York swept all of its opponents from start to finish, set a record with 114 regular-season wins and closed the tournament by lifting the championship trophy.

Hernández joined writer and commentator Enrique Rojas to talk about his years with the Yankees’ iconic slugger. The meeting, entitled “Memories of the Duke: El Capitan”, took place at the “Top Cigars” cigar store on the popular Calle Ocho in Miami’s Little Havana.

“The main thing he has is his personality. Even though he was very young and language was an obstacle between us, he knew how to get there. Jeter would greet me by telling me [in Spanish] ‘todo bien’ as a way to make me feel comfortable,” Hernandez said.

“Jeter helped me a lot. When I arrived I felt like a 15-year-old kid because it was a new world, but Jeter helped me a lot,” added Hernández, who was 32 when he first came to the majors.

Hernández, a native of Villa Clara, in the central region of the largest of the Antilles, was one of the best Cuban pitchers of his generation in 1997, when he made the decision to flee the country to follow in the footsteps of his younger brother, Liván, who had left two years earlier.

“El Duque” signed a four-season, $6.6 million contract with the Yankees in March 1998 and after some time adjusting in the minor leagues was brought up to the big club in June to fill the absence of star star starter David Cone, who had recently been bitten on the finger of his right hand by his dog.

In his first start, on June 3 against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, he pitched seven innings of one-run, seven-strikeout ball to show he wouldn’t be in the Bronx for a start. The righty settled into the rotation and had a 12-4 record, 3.13 ERA and was fourth in the Rookie of the Year race.

More importantly, Hernandez blanked the Cleveland Indians in seven innings in the Championship Series and limited the San Diego Padres to one run in seven acts in Game 1 of the World Series, which ended in a 4-0 sweep for New York.

It was the first of three titles for Hernandez with the Yankees (1998, 1999 and 2000), who finished with four in his career (2005 with the Chicago White Sox), but the second of five that Jeter piled up during his great 20-year Major League career, all in a pinstriped uniform. Jeter, Rookie of the Year and champion in 1996, also won in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009.

“Jeter earned his captain’s job on merit. I remember some words he addressed to the team when we were down in the first round of the 2000 playoffs against the Oakland Athletics. They were inspirational words that still touch me today. It was one of the most emotional meetings we had and he got us to react,” Hernandez said.

“Ball teams need a lot of Jeter,” he said.