On the heels of Marlins ace Jose Fernandez‘s tragic death Sunday, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com wonders what might have been had his life not been cut short at the age of 24. The fun-loving Fernandez’s upside on the mound was limitless, writes Stark, who opines that the Cuba native could have been the next Pedro Martinez. To back up such high praise, Stark notes that Fernandez’s lifetime 150 ERA+ ranks first among right-handers whose careers began since World War II (minimum 70 starts).
More reactions to the death of Fernandez, whose loss has the baseball world in mourning:
- Speaking of Martinez, the 44-year-old Hall of Famer and three-time Cy Young Award winner said Sunday that Fernandez was a “better talent” than he was (Twitter link via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald). That’s quite an endorsement from Martinez, hands down one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the sport.
- In emigrating from a communist country to emerge as an elite pitcher in the United States, Fernandez became the embodiment of the American Dream, offers Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. It wasn’t easy for Fernandez, who ended up in jail three times as a young teenager after failed attempts to immigrate to America. The fourth try, which came in 2008, was successful, but Fernandez had to dive into the ocean to save his mother from drowning as they fled to Mexico. Years later, in 2015, Fernandez became a proud U.S. citizen, as Passan details.
- On the field, Fernandez recorded the best FIP of any modern era pitcher – Clayton Kershaw and Sandy Koufax rank second and third – per Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Off the field, Fernandez brought happiness to those around him, writes Heyman. “He just could bring a smile to everyone’s face,” former teammate Steve Cishek said.
- At a tearful press conference Sunday, Marlins manager Don Mattingly added, “I see such a little boy in the way he played. Such joy. When you watch kids play Little League, that’s what I think about.” Stated owner Jeffrey Loria, “Sadly, the brightest lights are often the ones that extinguish the fastest. Jose left us far too soon, but his memory will endure in all of us. At this difficult time, our prayers are with his mother, grandmother, family and friends.”
RIP Bro
I’m heart broken over this. So damn sad. Rest In Peace and prayers to everyone affected by this.
I still can’t believe this is real. We’re never gonna see that smile or his flair ever again. Such a loss for the world.
This is a devastating loss for Major League Baseball but even more so for his family, friends and acquaintances.
Rest In Peace.
Rip Jose, a great Figure, Teammate, and Personality
RIP Jose….loved your competitive spirit
Loss for the league. Great personality and a great career ahead of him
I’m having trouble processing this honestly. This just doesn’t seem real. What an amazing young man he was and will be in everyone’s hearts. His name passion and fun loving spirit will be missed. What an amazing pitcher and even better human being. rest in Piece Jose. We will all miss you.
Keith Hernandez shed some tears in the pregame today. Such a sad day.
I’m rooting for him to get the CY Young this year so that years from know people will understand how great he was in such a short time period.
This just sucks. Sad day.
Not funny at all but I find it strange how the advertisement that I see in this article is The Game of Life boardgame
One of the greatest of the latest generation of guys to come up in the last four years… already a superstar-level MLB pitcher and a long, long career ahead of him. Not to take anything away from some of the others like Nick Adenhart or Oscar Taveras that had their careers cut off before they could get going, but it’s been a long time since baseball lost a star this big. It’s another unfortunate reminder that our on-field heroes are not the gods-amongst-men we often make them out to be, but rather normal humans like us who are doing extraordinary things.
rip jose
I cannot believe this is real. I just watched him strike out 12 Nats for a 1-0 shutout a few days ago. I am so sad for his family and his teammates. Rest in peace, Jose, knowing at 24 you’ve touched so many people from fans of the game, to kids in need of inspiration. You’ll be in this fan’s mind for all days to come.
I keep thinking about 2 things. 1 when will I wake up and 2 the fact that if his start wasn’t moved to Monday, he might still be here. I doubt a pitcher is out on a boat at 3:00 A.M the day he is scheduled to pitch in a mid afternoon game. I feel awful for who ever made that call, they must feel like they are at fault for everything that happened(I know I would). But overall just a horrible sad day for baseball and even just a sad day in general, you don’t need to be a baseball fan to be affected by this. I just keep thinking to myself, when will I wake up and this will all be over.
As a Braves fan, I got to see him pretty regularly. I loved the games against him because he was a phenomenal pitcher and always made any team’s hitters look completely foolish. I loved the charisma and cheerful way he went about the game and probably life in general. Even when the Braves would have a “decent” game against him and maybe even cause him to lose a game, you couldn’t tell. He always had that smile on his face and I distinctly remember how he and Freddie Freeman had this friendly rivalry and when Freddie would get a hit off of him, he couldn’t do anything but smile and give credit to Freddie. Plus we seemed to have an annual bench clearing event with him… I’m truly going to miss watching him play for what could’ve/should’ve been a much longer career. He was one of my favorite pitchers to watch. I wish I could’ve met him if only for 5 minutes. My heart goes out to his family, friends, teammates and the Marlins. The hurt we all feel is nothing compared to theirs. RIP Jose…