MLB WORLD SERIES: INDIANS v MARLINS

October 22, 1997

Livan Hernandez

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: This year at Charlotte and last year in Portland in AA there was a lot of times it was very cold.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: Uh-huh.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: I don't know anything about that right now and I don't know about anything that's happening.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: That's resolved with a little bit of coffee and just go out and throw the baseball.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: I don't know anything about what's going on. I don't know if she's coming, I don't know if she's staying in Cuba. I don't know anything about the news and reports that have been coming out. I wish she was here, but I really don't know anything about it.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: 100 percent, I'd love her to be here 100 percent, but right now I don't know anything that's happening.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: I talked to her a few days ago, but I can't tell you at what time or on what day.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: I'm feeling real good right now. I'm in the World Series, and it's a dream. Right now I'm feeling real, real good, and everything is great right now. It's something incredible for me, it's been only two years since I arrived from Cuba and now I'm in the World Series. And to have an opportunity to throw in the World Series.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: Well, I did get the first win and I was real excited about that. I owe it all to my teammates and I owe it all to catcher, Charles Johnson for the game he called. Our team is a team that doesn't give up, we're not quitters, they're going to battle and battle all the way up through the 9th inning. So we're going to battle and we're going to fight throughout the entire time.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: There's a lot of Latins, and not only the ones that are doing well in the World Series, there are a lot that help their team make it to the World Series. And you see a lot of collaboration among the Latins with the players that are doing well.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: In the first game I was behind hitters and my breaking balls weren't -- I wasn't throwing them very well. Charles Johnson helped me a lot in moving the ball around and to spot my pitches. To try to go out there and spot my pitches well, throw well and forget about the cold.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: I did get to see snow in Boston and New York. I never had the opportunity to go to Toronto when I was making those trips, but where I really saw a lot of it was last year in AA and AAA.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: Right now to be honest with you I don't like the cold, I don't like to pitch in the cold, but I like it when it's hot. But these are the times where you can't worry about whether it's hot or cold, you've just got to go out and pitch and do the best job you can.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: I've changed a lot mentally and I've changed a lot physically, and even in the foods that I eat, like McDonalds I'm leaving it off to the side now. I'm eating more salads now, that I never liked. And I've changed a lot in the way I pitch and most importantly in my mental outlook towards it. I'm a different pitcher than the one that first arrived.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: My brother taught me a lot about pitching in Cuba. He's very happy with the job I'm doing, and we've talked and he's really excited about where I am right now.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: That's one of the most difficult decisions that a person has. Not everyone has the same thought patterns. I thought about my family, but also knowing that the possibility existed that I could help them. And I also thought about liberty. There's a lot of players in Cuba who don't even know, like I was, don't even know about this and what exists here. And I feel this is the best baseball in the world. It's the land of opportunity. And you can help your family.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: There's a lot of them, probably -- there's a lot. But the majority don't think the same way I do, so they'll never be able to play at this level.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ: It's very important because this is the best baseball in the world. In Cuba you can be a success in everything, but unless you can do it at this level there's really nothing there, I mean this is the best baseball in the world and this is where you have to prove that you can play.