Absolutely horrible news to wake up to. Literally the first thing I saw and it's absolutely heartbreaking. Three men died in a boating accident around 3 am this morning in Miami, including Miami Marlins Ace Pitcher Jose Fernandez.
RIP to Jose Fernandez and the two other men on the boat who's names have yet to be released. During a press conference by Miami-area Coast Guard it was announced they were close friends to Jose. All 3 were under 27 years old, Jose was only 24. As a baseball fan it's horrible news, Jose was one of the brightest young pitching stars in all of baseball. To the average fan they may not have known who is because he was playing for the Marlins, but man this guy could really pitch. One of the top young pitching talents in the game. The dude just struck everybody out. Absolutely filthy. He was leading the NL in strikeouts per 9 innings this year. 2013 NL Rookie of the Year. Extremely promising career in front of him. Both he and Giancarlo Stanton were huge parts of the Marlins revival and getting people in Miami excited about this team. Sad to see such a bright, young talent be taken away so tragically and suddenly. As a person, and especially as a 24 year old person, this really is hitting me harder than I would've ever expected. Seeing someone younger than you pass away always hurts, it's even worse when it's in an accident that could've been avoided. Everybody thinks they're just gonna die when they're old, but you obviously never know what is going to happen day to day. Everyday really is a blessing, you never know when it's going to be your last. I've been out on boats late at night too and you think nothing is going to happen to you. I was lucky enough to make it back, Jose and his friend were not. I'm not going to speculate whether or not alcohol was involved, and even if it was I'm not going to cast judgement. It's what people do, I've done it, you've probably done it too. People make mistakes, just really horrible news. Three men all under 27 years of are gone. That's the tragedy here. Fernandez broke onto the scene in baseball in 2013, going 12-6 with a 2.19 ERA and 187 strikeouts. He was an all star and NL Rookie of the Year. After Tommy John surgery he missed most of the 2014 and 15 seasons but when he was able to pitch he still put up insane numbers. 2016 was Fernandez' first full season back after the injury and he was pitching extremely well, Jose was named an All Star again in 2016 and will most likely finish top 10 in the NL Cy Young voting. Jose was a team guy too, always had his guys backs, always there to cheer on a teammate as seen here in one of the more noteworthy reaction after a Giancarlo Stanton homer in 2013.
Jose Fernandez defected from Cuba at the age 15 in 2008 after 3 unsuccessful tries to make it to America. 3 charges of "being a traitor to Fidel Castro" after each failed attempt. The most telling story is that on his 4th try to make it to the U.S. someone was knocked overboard into the gulf. Jose just jumped in the water right away to save who fell in, just by human instinct. Had no idea who it was, just helped because it was the right thing to do. The woman he risked his life to save happened to save was his own mother. Crazy story. It's obvious Jose Fernandez was a great guy, who was proud of where he came from, but also proud to be here in America, doing extremely well. He became an American Citizen last season, just a true story of perseverance and success as an immigrant in America in the 21st century. Very family oriented. It's sad and maybe messed up to say right now, but the loss of future wealth for his family in addition to Jose is devastating.
In Miami, a city with the most Cubans in the world, outside of Cuba, he was beloved. What is even more tragedic is that Jose Fernandez' wife was expecting the couple's first child. Jose posted this on instragram only FIVE days ago.
Really makes me sad to see this. Jose Fernandez was just 24 years old, with everything in front of him, and just like that it's gone. It sucks. It sucks for baseball, for the Marlins, for Miami, for Cuba and most importantly his friends and family.
RIP Jose Fernandez July 31, 1992- September 25, 2016
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