Yankees' gift from nowhere a big reason for their strong start

It is forgotten to time that the Yankees did not pursue Orlando Hernandez with the fervor that they had his half-brother, Livan, in 1996. And that Hideki Irabu was greeted with way more fanfare in 1997 than El Duque would be a year later. After all, Hernandez had been banned from Cuban baseball because authorities were worried he would defect like Livan. Thus, El Duque had not pitched for more than a year when the Yankees signed him in March 1998 to a four-year, $6.6 million contract. It is why, when he finally did arrive two months into what already was feeling like a magical season, Hernandez became kind of a gift out of nowhere. He was poised in a way that Irabu was not. He possessed a bevy