Celebrate a former Miami Marlins star

Former Miami Marlins starting pitcher Livan Hernandez is getting celebrated this Sunday! He's getting a bobblehead as The Fish are hosting the Washington Nationals on Sunday. The 1997 Florida Marlins were the fastest team to win a World Series since inception in Major League history. The current Miami Marlins reminded us of that team from time to time this season.

Former Miami Marlins starting pitcher Livan Hernandez will be celebrated on Sunday.

Livan Hernandez is an integral part of Miami Marlins history. As I already mentioned, he was a key part of that 1997 World Series winning team. He delivered a spectacular 3.18 ERA/3.57 FIP, with 6.7 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9, in 17 games and 96.1 innings pitched that season. The performance was in fact worth 1.7 WAR. He followed that up by being especially spectacular in the NLCS win over the Atlanta Braves. He delivered a 0.84 ERA in the 2 games and 10.2 innings that he pitched in that series.

Livan Hernandez looked like an elite ace going forward, he even won the NLCS MVP in 1997! Unfortunately, he had a 4.72 ERA/5.22 FIP, with 6.2 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 33 games and 234.1 innings pitched the following season. He wasn't much better in 1999 either. That season, he produced a 4.64 ERA/4.36 FIP, with 6.5 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 30 games and 199.2 innings pitched. He split that season between The Fish and the San Francisco Giants by the way, as he was traded there mid-season.

Livan became a sort of journeyman for the ret of his career. He pitched for the San Francisco Giants from 1999 to 2002 (winning a pennant in the last season). He then moved on to the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals for 2003-2006; the Arizona Diamondbacks for 2006-2007; the the Minnesota Twins for the first half of 2008; the Colorado Rockies for the latter half of 2008; the New York Mets for the first half of 2009; the Washington Nationals for the latter half of 2009-2011. He finally split 2012 between the Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers.

Livan Hernandez was never an ace after 1997, and really only had one top of the rotation season after that. He had a 3.20 ERA/3.87 FIP in 2003 with the Washington Nationals, in 33 games and 233.1 innings pitched. He was a workhorse however and that 1997 World Series is his career highlight. Celebrate his legacy by getting his bobblehead on Sunday.