# El Duque?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/el-duque/444900>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [April 11, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/el-duque/444900 "2008-04-11T14:52:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/el-duque/444900/1 "2008-04-11T14:52:44Z")

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Does anyone know how [Orlando Hernandez](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Duque) got the name “El Duque?” This is something that has bothered me for years, but, being a Phillies fan, I haven’t been able to get to the bottom of it. My only guess is that it is a Spanish version of “The Duke,” the Yankee pitcher from the Major League movie. I’m not too confident in that, though.

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**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/el-duque/444900/2 "2008-04-11T16:19:20Z")

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[http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA\_Profiles/People\_Profile/0,2540,14,00.html](http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,14,00.html)

This article says his father who had many “wives” and children called his sons duques. He became the Duque of Havana.

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/el-duque/444900/3 "2008-04-11T16:22:38Z")

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\*\*gonzomax \*\* has it right. “El Duke” came with the name from his time pitching in Cuba.

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**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/el-duque/444900/4 "2008-04-14T13:32:27Z")

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[QUOTE=gonzomax]  
[http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA\_Profiles/People\_Profile/0,2540,14,00.html](http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,14,00.html)

This article says his father who had many “wives” and children called his sons duques. He became the Duque of Havana.  
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I don’t know where CA got that story, but it’s not what I knew in Cuba. Arnaldo Hernandez, the father of both Orlando and Livan Hernandez, was also a well known baseball player, and he was the original “El Duque”, but not for his womanizing but instead because he was always giving away stuff like he was a rich man.

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**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/el-duque/444900/5 "2008-04-14T14:05:14Z")

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Actually, it is a strange but true fact that in Orlando Hernandez’s native dialect, “El Duque” actually translates to “The Fifty-Year-Old Rookie.” He was given the nickname as an MLB rookie because… well, you know.