Twenty-four year old Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez passed away early Sunday morning. The brutal news was met with disbelief, shock and grief in the Red Sox clubhouse.
Early Sunday morning, the news broke. In a day and age when people on social media play cruel jokes to get a rise, many baseball fans, including myself, wanted to believe it was a hoax. Unfortunately, it was not. Twenty-four year old Jose Fernandez had passed away in a boating accident. Authorities said that two other people also lost their lives in the tragedy.
The Cuban-born Marlins pitcher was an up-and-coming talent who was thought to be one of the leaders of the next generation of baseball superstars. He had a real chance to be elite and had already made a huge impact both in baseball and in the Miami community. Comparisons to former Red Sox great Pedro Martinez were common, and today Pedro said he was “a better talent than I was”, according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.
And what a life he had led in his short time on Earth. The AP story on Boston.com reporting his death discussed how it took four attempts for him to escape Cuba with his mother, and he basically had to save his mother’s life after she ended up in the water. He was just an amazing guy.
For a team that was rolling after winning ten straight, the awful news reportedly created a very somber atmosphere in the Red Sox clubhouse. It’s been well documented that both David Ortiz and former Marlin Hanley Ramirez had been quite friendly with Fernandez. While the social media world expressed their sadness and disbelief, Big Papi and Hanley also took to Twitter to give their thoughts.
I dont have the words to describe the pain feel for the loss of my friend Jose. Goodbye, my friend. pic.twitter.com/xvaa5z62RW
— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) September 25, 2016
My heart is with Jose's and the other victims' families, and my cherished Marlins family. My deepest condolences. This is heartbreaking
— Hanley Ramirez ⚾️ (@HanleyRamirez) September 25, 2016
In another piece for the Boston Herald today, Michael Silverman described how John Farrell attempted to offer his support to his players in the clubhouse. Multiple other members of the team also decided to offer their thoughts on Twitter including Mookie Betts and Brad Ziegler.
In what would be his last game in Tampa, David Ortiz politely asked the Rays to skip the pregame ceremony honoring him that has been taking place in cities all over the country in his final season. Ortiz was clearly very shaken by the loss of his friend. He spoke to MLB Network about it prior to the game:
“We are talking about one of the faces of the baseball community and baseball-wise he made sure everyone was taken care of. When I heard the news this morning I have not been able to go back to normal. You can never be prepared to hear news like that; it makes a major impact on you. We need more faces like him in the game; we need more people in the media to tell stories like his. He was an unbelievable human being. As a person that is what we cared about. This is something that will hit home for a very long time.”
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The loss of Jose Fernandez creates a major void in the world of baseball and beyond. It’s a horrific event for the Marlins organization, their fans, the baseball community as a whole and of course, his family. Condolences to all of Fernandez’ family, friends and teammates.