The boat was reportedly travelling full speed and was demolished.
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None of the three on the boat were wearing their life vests. “We have stopped this boat before over safety concerns”, he added.
“When something like this happens, you take a look at yourself, you take a look at the people around you, and you realize that above all – above all – there’s just love”, Samson said.
Jose Reyes was in spring training with Fernandez in 2012, his lone season with the Marlins, with the future ace debuting and winning Rookie of the Year honors in 2013.
Jose Fernandez was born in Santa Clara, Cuba, and grew up on the same street as fellow Major League Baseball player Aledmys Díaz.
He tried to defect from Cuba at least three times – landing in jail after one of those unsuccessful tries – before eventually getting to the USA and going to high school in Tampa, Florida.
For Hill, that history included sitting at Fernandez’s kitchen table in the summer of 2011, trying to convince the teenage phenom born in Cuba and living near Tampa to sign with the Marlins after the team picked him in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. “I can understand why the (Marlins) game is cancelled, for very good reason”.
“The toughest part for me has been having to tell my son”, McGehee said, choking back tears.
For all of that, if the Fish had approached John Coppolella and said: “Would you be interested in trading for Jose Fernandez?”, how long would the Braves’ GM have needed to say, “Yes, please”?
“When I think about Josie, it’s going to be thinking about a little kid”, Mattingly said. “I can’t imagine what they feel”.
“On behalf of the Mets organization and certainly all of the players and coaches, we’re all saddened by the news”, Collins said. No word on who else was on the boat with Fernandez at the time of the accident.
Of all the young pitchers in baseball, Jose Fernandez was the best.
“He was a great guy to watch pitch, compete, one of the best pitchers in the game”, deGrom said. We get to play a game.
Tragedy: Jose Fernandez was killed in a boating accident at the age of 24. “The emotions range from shock, disbelief to thinking about their families and the adjustments they’re going to have to go through”.
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What people remember Fernandez for the most isn’t his arrival in the US or learning customs, but with the effervescent joy in which he played the game.
