Dream Nears Reality for Hernandez

[JJ]

He remembers all the names of the original Marlins, from Charlie Hough to Chuck Carr. He and his mother, wearing matching teal Marlins shirts, sat in the ''Publix Power Alley'' outfield seats during the 1997 World Series.

''Still have that shirt,'' he said.

When he was a kid, a Perrine Little Leaguer, he would show up early to the then-Joe Robbie Stadium, race down the stadium aisle to the top of the dugout during early batting practice, and snag autographs -- Al Leiter's on a ball and Moises Alou's on a glove.

''I was outside throwing that ball two days later,'' he said remorsefully.

Leiter's inked signature rubbed off years ago.

But Gaby Hernandez is now making a name of his own on the Marlins.

Hernandez, a 22-year-old Miami-born-and-raised pitcher, is inching closer to an improbable dream: A boyhood Marlins fan becomes a grown-up Marlins player.

When the Marlins went dealing dollars for low-priced prospects after the 2005 season, the trade that rattled the needle was the one with Boston: Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota to the Red Sox for Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, etc.

DEAL WASN'T SO SMALL

Less conspicuous was the trade 10 days later with the New York Mets.

In that one, the Marlins pawned off catcher Paul Lo Duca for Hernandez. The Brooklyn-born Lo Duca returned to his roots. But so did Hernandez, a Single A pitcher in the Mets' system at the time.

''I was very excited about that trade,'' said Hernandez, a hard-throwing right-hander and product of Miami's Belen Jesuit High School. ``It was an opportunity to play for a team I had had been watching since I was 7 or 8 years old.''

Hernandez could get that playing opportunity very soon.

An outside candidate to win the fifth spot in the starting rotation, Hernandez's chances might be improving with the tenuous status of injured pitcher Sergio Mitre, who was expected to hold down one of the five spots until a strained right forearm threw a big question mark over those plans.

Although the two ''Ricks'' -- Rick VandenHurk and Ricky Nolasco -- are considered to be the front-runners for the fifth (and possibly fourth) rotation spots, Hernandez also is in the mix, along with fellow minor-leaguer Chris Volstad.

On Monday, facing a downgraded Boston Red Sox lineup that was lacking in star appeal, Hernandez retired six of his seven hitters. Watching intently from the front rows of seats behind the backstop screen were the top talent evaluators for the Marlins: president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest, general manager Mike Hill and assistant general managers Dan Jennings and Jim Fleming.

The previous time Hernandez auditioned in front of that sort of company, he flopped.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

Pitching last season with Double A Carolina and with a September call-up at stake, he turned in two of his worst outings, the first when Beinfest, Hill and former manager Jack McKeon were watching and the second in Montgomery, Ala., where Jennings was on hand.

Beinfest said of the North Carolina performance: ``He did not pitch well. It's always better to make a good impression and, unfortunately, it didn't happen that day.''

Jennings said of the Alabama outing shortly thereafter: ``It was a horrible first inning, and every ball [the opponents] hit had eyes. It was Murphy's Law. It if could, it did.''

Hernandez didn't receive a promotion.

Carolina catcher Brett Hayes, who was behind the plate when Hernandez was under the spotlight in the Alabama game, said it was impossible not to notice who was in the stands.

But Hayes said he didn't think it played a role in the poor showing.

''I think there were maybe 30 people at the game, so you know who's there,'' Hayes said.

``But it was one of those games [where] the breaks didn't go his way. It wasn't them that caused it.''

Hernandez isn't giving up. He is just 22.

''Things happen for a reason, I believe, and I believe it wasn't my time,'' Hernandez said of last season. ``Maybe it'll never be my time. But, hopefully, that time will come one day and I'll take full advantage of it.''

Source

[St. Jimmy]

Must be a great feeling to wear the uniform of the team you grew up adoring.

[Swift]

Miller, Sanchez, Volstad, Hernandez is a pretty solid foundation for next season.