Livan Hernandez

Posted in Uncategorized by Flavor on February 1, 2012

I just saw that Livan signed a minor league deal with the Astros. Man, 2012 and that dude is still pluggin’ along. It’s a pretty dark morning here at The Flap so I thought I’d toss out a *Livan* thread and see if any of you want to share your best memories of him. It doesn’t get much darker than this, does it?

First, some info/highlights of his career:

He claims to be 36 years old.

He was traded to us from Florida for Nate Bump and Jason Grilli in 1999.

In 4 seasons for us he was 45-45. In 4 seasons with Florida he was 24-24. Over 16 seasons and 7 different teams, he’s 174-176.

Here’s the dough he’s made:

And that’s about it for my Livan memories. You guys got any?

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Retro Game ‘0 da Day!

It’s 9/11/86 and we won 2-1. I couldn’t let this game go by without a shout out to our starting catcher, Phil Ouellete. Signed by the Giants in ’81 he was released in December of ’87. Here is the stat summary of his career in the major leagues:

I always trip out on dudes like this……..Anyway, looks like he caught a hell of a game. In the bottom of the 6th, he singled with one out. He did not advance. It would be 1 of 4 hits he’d get in his career. I bet his heart was pounding through his chest that inning……

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ewisco said, on February 1, 2012 at 7:18 am

I just remember Livan being near to useless in the playoffs.
willieD said, on February 1, 2012 at 7:51 am

Pretty amazing to still be able to get guys out at his age and throw as often as he does. He and el duque are quite an amazing story
@Chuck: your HS alma mater would be the same one as Barry Bonds, right? Back in late 80s, I knew a sales rep for our co. whose son had gone there with BB. Said he was an incredible athlete but even at that age pretty stuck on himself.
Since I know kids who are currently playing HS ball that I coached at younger age, I have to admit I still dig watching games at this level. In south bay on friday nights they sometimes play 4 games in one night—jv and varsity boys and girls, starting at 3:30 or so. by the time varsity boys game gets going, gyms are packed and it’s pretty loud.
I was at such last week, featuring a couple of the “geekier” schools where a lot of kids have asian or south indian heritage, take tons of AP classes, and probably wind up at UC schools or prestigious private univs. It’s pretty funny to watch these future engineers/biochem majors acting wild and yelling and screaming.
The last game I saw went OT, was decided by a point, and was tied by a buzzer beater 3 in regulation. None of these guys are going to play college ball above D-2/3 level at best, so this is their last chance to hang with their friends and play ball for their school. I also think the kids who can play ball and maintain a rigorous academic/outside interest schedule are well prepared for whatever awaits them at next level, and life.
- unca_chuck said, on February 1, 2012 at 8:48 am
  
  Yup. Serra HS. I was 3 years ahead of his Barry-ness. And yeah, he was pretty high on himself even then. But he could play, that’s for sure. I remember him hitting home runs over the fence, across El Camino and off the building across the street from Central Park in San Mateo.
blade3colorado said, on February 1, 2012 at 7:51 am

I guess I’m a bit more sentimental, but for a guy who lost a fairly good fastball and was able to stay in the league by pitching control and junk – well I give him props and tip my hat to him for a long career and some outstanding pitching gems. I only wish Livan the best!
Bozo said, on February 1, 2012 at 7:52 am

From what I heard, after they moved to Pac Bell, the Giants were not pleased that he was sending a locker room kid over to Mickey Ds for a sack of big macs every day. I’d imagine if In-N-Out moved across the street they’d be really pissed off.
St said, on February 1, 2012 at 8:46 am

He was pretty damn good in 2000 considering what they gave up. That was back in the day when Sabean would move valued pitching prospects they deemed expendable. Vogelsong went the next yr for Schmitty.

I remember my first game at Pacbell, beautiful weekday weather and Livan threw a shutout and walked off to a standing O. Thought they were going all the way that yr.

We all remember the 2002 WS debacle, but Livan pitched pretty well in the playoffs in 2000 and 2002.
St said, on February 1, 2012 at 8:50 am

I had forgotten that Eric Davis finished his career with Giants. He was something before injuries took their toll.
- TedSpe said, on February 1, 2012 at 10:18 am
  
  I remember early in his career, his name and Willie Mays were often used in the same sentence
twinfan1 said, on February 1, 2012 at 9:10 am

One thing you could always count on with Livan- he was ready to take the ball. Just for the heck of heck of it, Livan since 2007: 51-59 , Zito 43-61. It’s not like Livan has pitched for powerhouses. Yeah, I know W/L is not a great barmometer, but in this case, I think it’s representative enough in gauging relative suckitude. With Hernndez at a ballpark 25 million since 2007 and Zits at 80 million during that time, this solidifies the Zitboy’s postion as the worst pitcher in the history in baseball dollar for dollar… 😉
His influence on Timmy’s aleady shaky eating habits might have been catastrophic, however…
Here he tips over after a sack of doubles…
- Bozo said, on February 1, 2012 at 11:12 am
  
  He should have had em without the lettuce, it seems to throw off his equilibrium.
  
  BTW – My original comment wasn’t meant to be a fat joke, a friend who used to work for KNBR told me about the Giants not being pleased about the big macs. Although, I don’t know if they ever tried to do something about it or not.
  - Nipper said, on February 1, 2012 at 2:42 pm
    
    Found guilty of eating BIG MACS? Off with his head!
Macdog said, on February 1, 2012 at 9:46 am

I was very surprised to see Livan had a .500 record with the Giants. What I liked about him was despite being a bit hefty, he was an excellent fielder and he could swing the bat, attributes that great pitchers like Gibson, Seaver and Carlton had when I was growing up.

And Livan was a good pitcher in the playoffs. He threw a gem vs. the Mets in Game 1, and I always thought if the Giants could’ve gotten to a Game 5 he would’ve nailed down the series. Yeah he was lousy in the WS, but he had a couple big wins in the playoffs that year and besides, the Angels lit up just about everyone during their run. Didn’t Omar sign with someone, too? These two guys will just go on and on and on . . .
- Flavor said, on February 1, 2012 at 10:11 am
  
  Omar signed a minor lg deal with toronto–45 years old. Says he wants to play till he’s 50~!
  - Macdog said, on February 1, 2012 at 10:28 am
    
    Thanks! At 45, Omar is probably still the best fielding shortstop in all of MLB.
  - Alleykat said, on February 1, 2012 at 10:30 am
    
    Man we really need ST.Livan can hook up with Jamie Moyer and Omar and start start their own “Geriatic” league.
snarkk said, on February 1, 2012 at 10:25 am

I saw Livan pitch for the Nats in San Diego last June. He was pretty good for around 6 frames I seem to remember, then started getting hit hard. Of course, if was the Pads, not a great hitting squad. Still, do I think he’d be worse than Zito? Hell no. And he can actually swing the bat, and really fields his position…
TedSpe said, on February 1, 2012 at 10:30 am

R.I.P. Don Cornelius
Pace, Love and Soooooooul
- Bozo said, on February 1, 2012 at 12:51 pm
  
  Very sad ending. I still watch Soul Train reruns, great stuff.
twinfan1 said, on February 1, 2012 at 11:31 am

I have a link to the right for Super Bowl eating…
Alleykat said, on February 1, 2012 at 1:11 pm

Always liked Kelly Downs,Had good stuff,never got much support on bad teams.
- unca_chuck said, on February 1, 2012 at 2:08 pm
  
  Plus, he named his son Churchill . . .
PawlieKokonuts said, on February 1, 2012 at 4:06 pm

I have mixed memories. Yes, we remember his not-great performance in Game 7 of the 2002 WS. But he should hardly be the fall guy. I am sure he pitched some pivotal playoff games, particularly against the Braves, I think, to get us there. And he was an innings eater. He’s a 51-million-dollar survivor. I wish him the best.
DJLoo said, on February 1, 2012 at 6:39 pm
- Alleykat said, on February 1, 2012 at 9:23 pm
  
  Nice touch Loo…Love that song! And yes Levon likes his money,makes alot they say…
twinfan1 said, on February 1, 2012 at 6:41 pm

He and Felix took an inordinate amount of blame for the WS loss, blame that should have been more equitably shared by many…
Flavor said, on February 1, 2012 at 8:19 pm

I’d throw Worrell into the *blame mix* he was terrible in Game 6. But Game 7, at least the pitching, was all on Livan’s El Stinko. The guys who followed him pitched fine. Of course, our hitters did nothing in Game 7 so that’s on them, too…..
twinfan1 said, on February 1, 2012 at 9:05 pm

They lost 4 games, not one.
- Flavor said, on February 2, 2012 at 5:44 am
  
  I suppose you think Steve Bartman took too much heat, too.
paulinasia said, on February 1, 2012 at 9:31 pm

Fairly or unfairly, if I ever blamed anyone for losing in ’02, I blamed a) Dusty for taking out Ortiz what seemed to me to be a tad early in game 6, still having memories of ’86 when John McNamara took out Clemens an inning too early, same result, bullpen couldn’t hold it, although it perhaps unfairly blames Dusty because we, of course, as observers, don’t know the real status of the pitcher’s stamina and condition, and b) Kent, who I remember hitting in only 2 of the games (one of them being a blow-out win) but went completely silent when we needed his big bat. He just seemed to be giving it a half-assed effort during the whole series. Again, who really knows what was going on, but that’s how it seemed. I never really blamed Felix for his seeming inability to throw something other than fastballs, which of course hitters will sit on and wait for a good one because they know it’s coming; he was what he was and the coaching staff put him in that position… anyway, pushing 10 years ago now, the memories fade a bit. It was painful, that’s really all I remember.
- unca_chuck said, on February 2, 2012 at 9:33 am
  
  Thing is, Ortiz looked like he was going to sprint off the mound. He was happy as hell Dusty came to get him.
  
  The Rodriguez-to-Worrell-to-Nen 7-8-9 formula had worked all year.
  
  Not that time.
snarkk said, on February 1, 2012 at 10:43 pm

I blame
the Angels…