Born in Cuba, José Fernández defected to America at 15, and went on become one of America’s brightest baseball stars. At 24, the much-loved and talented Miami Marlins pitcher and two of his friends died Sunday after losing control of their boat and crashing into jagged rocks near the Miami Harbor.
The family, the team and the baseball fans around the country mourn the news. Surrounded and supported by the team, the president of Miami Marlins baseball operations Mike Hill held a press conference and completely broke down while sharing his grief and offering condolences to the family. After struggling to speak and realizing he couldn’t, Hill and the team silently walked off camera. Here is the video.
CBS4 Miami reports that in a tribute, the whole Miami Marlins team wore black Marlins jerseys with José Fernández name and his number #16. while playing the New York Mets this week. Dee Gordon led off with home run and wept running the bases. In an interview later, Gordon said he believed José Fernández was there and gave him the power. The team won the game 7-3 and at the end, they stood around the pitcher’s mound, placed their hats in the middle, wrote #16 in the sand and Marlins coach and baseball star Don Mattingly went so far as to kissing the ground. CBS reports there probably wasn’t a dry eye by anyone watching in the stands or on television. It was breathtaking.
Sadly, under many of the comment sections under the news stories and tribute videos, there are some pretty despicable words from Trump supporters. José Fernández was an immigrant and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has made his contempt for immigrants clear. His followers echo that hate—even though many of those same deplorable supporters enjoyed watching José Fernández and the Marlins play. I’m not going to soil this article by posting those comments. They can be found in most any comment section and most of us can easily imagine the ugliness, because we’ve seen it again and again during this campaign. Those Trump supporters represent the worst of America. José Fernández represents the best of America. Rest in peace, dear José Fernández.
To learn more about the life of José Fernández, here is just one of the many tributes found on YouTube.
When someone is loved so dearly, so deeply and by so many, it’s worthy of news—and it’s a beautiful sadness.
