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Mourning Marlins honor Fernandez
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MIAMI Marlins players wearing No. 16 jerseys in honor of Jose Fernandez paid a tearful tribute to their fallen teammate on Monday, a day after the star pitcher was killed in a boating accident.
A night of wrenching emotion saw several of the Cuban-born player’s teammates choke back tears as they gathered on the pitcher’s mound at Marlins Park ahead of their MLB game against the New York Mets. Many players touched a large “16” which had been painted on the mound in tribute to the 24-year-old pitching ace, before hanging their heads in a moment of silence.
Tributes followed throughout the game, eventually won 7-3 by the Marlins, with Dee Gordon breaking down in sobs after hitting his first home run of the season, before being embraced by teammates. Gordon’s blast came after he had taken the first pitch from Mets starter Bartolo Colon while batting right handed in emulation of Fernandez.
Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria said earlier on Monday that the club would permanently retire Fernandez’s “16” jersey number. “Nobody’s going to wear it. I can tell you that now, nobody will wear that number again,” Loria told the Sun-Sentinel newspaper.
Marlins coach Don Mattingly said the shattered organization was “not trying to do anything other than just get through the day”.
“We have a love for Jose, the way he played, his passion for the game, and his energy for it. And I think our guys want to honor that, and what we’ve learned from him and that joy that he played with.”
Marlins president David Samson said Fernandez, a Cuban refugee who became a US citizen and achieved his dream of starring for a team in Miami, had been a role model beyond baseball. “This was a loss not just in the baseball world, but a loss in the community,” Samson said.
Fans created a makeshift memorial for the pitcher at the Florida baseball stadium, leaving flowers and handwritten notes in his honor.
The tributes come a day after Fernandez’s body was found, along with two deceased boating companions, in an overturned vessel off Miami Beach.
The Marlins canceled Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Braves as his teammates absorbed the shock of his loss.
Authorities said Fernandez and the other two victims were killed when the 10-meter vessel crashed into a jetty. The Coast Guard discovered the overturned boat around 3:30 am on Sunday.
Fernandez was enjoying his best major league season, posting a 16-8 record with a 2.86 earned run average.
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