Orlando Hernández Pedroso (born October 11, 1965), nicknamed "El Duque" (Spanish for "The Duke"), is a Cuban-born right-handed former professional baseball pitcher.

[4] The U.S. Coast Guard interdicted Hernández, his companion Noris Bosch, another baseball player named Alberto Hernández (no relation) and five others in Bahamian waters, delivering the entire party to Bahamian authorities in Freeport, who confined them in a detention center for illegal immigrants pending eventual repatriation to Cuba, the usual outcome of such cases.

[5] However, after lobbying by sports agent Joe Cubas and representatives of the Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF), then-Attorney General Janet Reno eventually offered both Hernándezes and Bosch a special status known as "humanitarian parole" that would allow them to enter the U.S., based on (1) what were judged to be realistic fears of persecution should they be returned to Cuba and (2) their status as exceptionally talented athletes, a class of person that — like exceptionally talented people in other professions — can qualify for special admission to the U.S. under State Department rules.

After two months in Costa Rica, Hernández entered the U.S. on a visa arranged by the New York Yankees, with whom he had negotiated a four-year, $6.6 million contract.

Hernández enjoyed his best year as a major league pitcher in 1999; he had a 17–9 record and set career highs in strikeouts (157) and innings pitched (214.1) as a Yankee.

On January 15, 2003, Hernández was traded by the Yankees to the Montreal Expos in a three-team deal that involved the Chicago White Sox.

[9] He never appeared in a game for the Expos, missing the entire season due to a rotator cuff injury in his throwing shoulder that required surgery.

The Yankees reached the postseason once again, but they lost to the eventual World Series champion Boston Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS.

After the 2005 season, Hernández was traded—along with relief pitcher Luis Vizcaíno and highly touted prospect outfielder Chris Young—to the Arizona Diamondbacks for former teammate Javier Vázquez.

Hernández's debut season in the National League allowed him to attain some offensive feats for the first time in his career.

His pitching in September, going 2–2 with a 2.01 ERA, led to him being named the Mets' Game One starter in the 2006 National League Division Series.

However, while running sprints in the outfield the day before the playoffs started, Hernández tore a muscle in his calf and had to be scratched from the postseason roster.

Injuries limited Hernández to just 24 starts during the 2007 season, but he pitched successfully when healthy, posting a 9–5 record, a 3.72 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 147 innings.

[citation needed] He underwent a lengthy post-surgery rehabilitation program in Florida with the intent of joining the Mets in August 2008.

[citation needed] A toe injury that required season-ending surgery in late August 2008 ended Hernández's season without him throwing a pitch for the Mets.

In 1999, The Smoking Gun published his divorce decree from Cuba;[19] the document, which had surfaced in connection with a child support case brought by his ex-wife, revealed him to have been born in 1965.