Clutch work in Beantown: El Duque spun the most storied inning of the 21st Century for the White Sox in the ALDS. (YouTube)
2004 As part of a plan to add more depth to the rotation, the White Sox signed veteran hurler Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. “The Duke” started strong in 2005, faded somewhat down the stretch, but pitched perhaps the most historic inning in franchise history when he came in to a bases-loaded, no-out situation at Boston in Game 3 of the ALDS. He proceeded to get two pop outs and a strikeout as the Sox held on to win and advance to the ALCS.
Actor (final credit: murdered by Albert Einstein in "Carnage Hall"), musician (Ethnocentric Republicans), and Nerf hoops champion, Wiffleball aficionado and onetime bilingual kindergarten teacher, Brett Ballantini also writes about baseball, basketball and sometimes hockey, publishing at the NBA, MLB, NHL, and for Slam, Hoop, Sporting News, the Athletic, and others. He was CSN Chicago’s Blackhawks beat writer for their first Stanley Cup season of 2009-10, and took over the White Sox beat after that. He currently is the editor-in-chief of South Side Hit Pen and managing editor of SB Nation's South Side Sox. He also wrote a book about Ozzie Guillén but is running out of space, so follow him on Twitter @BrettBallantini and he'll probably tell you even more about himself than you ever wanted to know.
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