Livan Hernandez's story chronicled in ESPN's "Brothers in Exile" on Nov. 4

Come Tuesday night, when you're tired of channel surfing to find something - anything - other than election results, you can tune to ESPN for a civics and history lesson with a Nationals twist.

As part of its "30 for 30" series, ESPN will present "Brothers in Exile," which chronicles the path that led two half-brothers - ex-National Livan Hernandez and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - to defect from their native Cuba for a chance to play baseball in the major leagues.

The siblings, both right-handed pitchers, paved the way for future stars from Cuba like Aroldis Chapman, Yasiel Puig and Jose Abreu. But it wasn't an easy decision or a simple path.

Livan Hernandez was the first to defect, turning his reputation as the most prized pitching prospect not already in Major League Baseball into an opportunity with the Florida Marlins. He defected to Mexico, eschewing the $6-a-month salary he made playing baseball for the Cuban government, and signed with the Marlins in January 1996 as an amateur free agent.

He reached the majors that season and helped lead the Marlins to a World Series championship in 1997, garnering Most Valuable Player awards in both the National League Championship Series and the Fall Classic victory over the Indians. A long major league career followed: 17 seasons for nine teams, a 178-177 record and 4.44 ERA, nine shutouts, a save, one Silver Slugger and two All-Star selections.

Though he's etched in the baseball memories of many as a Marlin, Livan pitched parts of seven seasons with the Nationals, his longest tenure with any of his clubs. He went 70-72 with a 3.98 ERA in 197 starts. He was the starting pitcher for both the Nationals' 2005 debut game in Philadelphia and the home opener against the Diamondbacks at RFK Stadium, and his name appears in the Nats' all-time leaders register in several categories (though the team's recent success has pushed him down on some lists). He retired earlier this year, spent spring training as a coach with the Nationals, pitched batting practice during the season, and continues to both work with the team's young pitchers and serve as an ambassador in a community relations role. At 39, he still appears to have an unquenchable passion for the game.

Older half-brother Orlando, now 49, paid dearly for Livan's defection. Suspected of assisting his brother in his defection - in 1995, while the Cuban National Team trained in Monterry, Mexico - Orlando was banned for life from Cuban professional baseball. On Christmas Day in 1997, he set sail on a small boat from his native country and was stranded on a deserted island for days before being rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Not a year later, he was in pinstripes, pitching the New York Yankees to a World Series title. "El Duque" had spent his prime years in Cuba, but still pitched nine seasons in the majors for four clubs. He went 90-65 with a 4.13 ERA, went to the postseason seven times (and was the American League Championship Series MVP in 1999 with the Yankees) and won four World Series (three in New York and one with the White Sox). Ironically, El Duque ended his career in the Nationals organization, after signing a minor league deal in January 2010 and pitching that season in the Gulf Coast League and for Double-A Harrisburg.

Cuban players found their way to the United States for years before the Hernandez brothers - the old Senators had a pipeline into the Caribbean island for years - but the current crop of Cuban major leaguers can trace their roots to Livan and Orlando Hernandez, who risked their lives (and those of their family members who remained in Cuba) to acheive their dreams of big league success.

You can watch trailers for the "Brothers in Exile" episode of "30 for 30" here. The film will air Tuesday at 9 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN.