Livan Hernandez made $48 million playing baseball; now it’s all gone
By Hannah Withiam - Market Watch
http://i.imgur.com/B4F6Foe.jpg
As Miami is assuming the spotlight for this week’s All-Star festivities, one of its most beloved alumni is making headlines for non-celebratory reasons.
Former starting pitcher Livan Hernandez, who helped guide the Marlins to their first World Series on his way to winning the 1997 Series MVP in his rookie year, filed for bankruptcy in a Fort Lauderdale federal court on Monday. Hernandez, 42, owes roughly $1 million to about 50 different creditors, according to court documents obtained by the Miami Herald.
The two-time All-Star and the half-brother of iconic Yankees pitcher Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez pocketed upwards of $48 million in contract money over 13 years.
Two months after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the Marlins’ 2017 home opener, Hernandez had a warrant out for his arrest for evading yet another court hearing over a lawsuit filed against him. The judge issued the warrant over a $220,000 loan Hernandez took from a local businessman in 2013 and had yet to pay back, even after the man won a judgment against him.
Add that loan to various other payments he owes — taxes to the IRS and monthly child support for his 14-year-old daughter — and Hernandez now must claw his way back from the bottom.
Concern over Hernandez’s finances mounted in 2013, when he put his ’97 World Series ring and MVP trophy up for auction.
Hernandez, a Cuban defector famous among Marlins fans for declaring “I Love you, Miami” in English following the ’97 win, pitched 14 more seasons — most notably for the Giants, Nationals and Mets — after the Marlins traded him to San Francisco in 1999.
Hernandez, who last pitched in 2012, still participated in Sunday’s All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game at Marlins Park, a day before declaring he is worth less than $50,000.
