According to the Coast Guard, the boat was traveling at “full speed”, although officials say there was no initial indication drugs or alcohol were involved.
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He made his Major League debut in 2013, being named the National League’s Rookie of the Year that season.
They were understandably dreading the matchup – Fernandez wasn’t just on a hot streak this month, he was virtually unbeatable at home with a 29-2 career record at Marlins Park.
Then came the dreaded plague of pitchers – the torn elbow ligament and Tommy John surgery in 2014.
LOS ANGELES The tragic death of 24-year-old Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez rippled out across the baseball world Sunday morning, leaving sadness from coast to coast. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jose’s family, friends, teammates, Miami Marlins organization and legions of fans in the United States and Latin America”.
The team’s home game against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday has been cancelled. After I struck out, it was always the same, we were still good friends. Baseball can be stuffy and set in its ways, and it’s not often a player comes along with a flawless combination of awesome talent and an overwhelming happiness to be able to use that talent while playing a kid’s game every day.
“A lot of words were said – meaningful words and emotion and prayer”, team president David Samson said. “There”s no playbook. There”s no words of consolation.
“One thing with Jose, what you see is what you get”, Hatcher said.
Fernandez was truly incredible to watch on the pitcher’s mound.
Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle, who spent time on the dais with Fernandez during a baseball awards dinner in NY in 2013, had some powerful words Sunday in PNC Park. “And he played it beautifully,” Perez said.
Video boards at Marlins Park on Sunday morning showed a large “16” – Fernandez’s jersey number – over his name. Puig and Cespedes, like Fernandez, fled Cuba to play baseball in the U.S.
“The navigation lights were still on”. “It was the same the last time we went to Miami”.
Reyes said eight divers entered the water to look for possible survivors. None of the three victims were wearing life vests, he said. “There was not much evidence on the vessel”. They were taken to the medical examiner’s office. The identities of the two other crash victims were not released.
MANNY NAVARRO: Well, you know, Jose was supposed to pitch today, Sunday, originally. Both went to high school in Tampa.
Barnes was a minor-league teammate of Fernandez in the Marlins’ farm system and caught Fernandez’s second start as a professional with the Jamestown Jammers in September 2011. He tried four times to defect, three times being cut off by the Coast Guard, being sent back to Cuba and imprisoned.
When he saw someone fall overboard, he didn’t know who it was but was determined to save his fellow passenger. The pitcher dived into the black nighttime waters to save her from drowning. He was 15 at the time.
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“When I think about Josie, it’s going to be thinking about a little kid”. His passing is a huge void that won’t be easily filled, but even without his fastball his memory can live on through all the others in the game who can, and should, play like he did.
