Star MLB Baseball Pitcher Killed Accident

“There’s no words to describe how this organization feels,” Marlins president David Samson said. “Jose was someone who we’ve known since he was a drafted young man, and I think when you talk about a tragedy like this, there are no words that come to mind. There’s no playbook, there’s no words of consolation.

“There’s prayer and there’s thought toward his family, toward his soon-to-be-born daughter, and you recognize how precious life is and how taking things for granted is a fool’s game.”

At a tearful news conference, every Miami player and coach stood in their black jerseys behind Samson, president of baseball operations Michael Hill, manager Don Mattingly and third baseman Martin Prado, who represented the players. Reliever Mike Dunn held Fernandez’s No. 16 jersey.

“All of Baseball is shocked and saddened by the sudden passing of Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernández,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “He was one of our game’s great young stars who made a dramatic impact on and off the field since his debut in 2013. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, the Miami Marlins organization and all of the people he touched in his life.”

The passing of the 24-year-old right-hander prompted the cancellation of Miami’s series finale on Sunday with the Braves at Marlins Park, which was scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET.

“There was just joy with him when he played,” Mattingly said. “When he pitched, I think that’s what the guys would say, too, as mad as he would make you with some of the stuff he’d do, you’d see that little kid you see when you watch kids play Little League or something like that. That’s the joy that Jose played with and the passion he felt about playing.”

At Marlins Park, a number of fans left flowers and pictures of Fernandez. The grounds crew inscribed No. 16 on the back of the mound and placed a cap above it, and the center-field scoreboard simply read: “16 Jose Fernandez.”

Fernandez initially was scheduled to start on Sunday, but on Saturday, it was announced he would pitch the series opener with the Mets on Monday in Miami.

Fernandez was an avid fisherman, who spent time on his boat. According to the Coast Guard, the boat that crashed and flipped over early Sunday morning was owned by a friend. Fernandez and two other males were killed in the accident.

Samson said he received a call from Hill about 6:58 a.m. ET. Samson and Hill immediately reached team owner Jeffrey Loria, and around 7:45 a.m., Mattingly was informed.

“It is with the deepest sorrow that I, together with my family and the entire Marlins organization, mourn the tragic loss of Jose,” Loria said in a statement. “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.”

Fernandez, already a two-time All-Star, was winding down his best big league season, posting a 16-8 record with a 2.86 ERA. The hard-throwing righty had already compiled a franchise record for strikeouts with 253, and his 12.49 strikeouts per nine innings paces the Majors.

Regarded as one of the best pitchers in the game, Fernandez sported a 38-17 record with a 2.58 ERA in 76 career starts. But it was at Marlins Park where he was most dominant, posting a 29-2 record with a 1.49 ERA in 42 starts.

Fernandez’s path to the big leagues is inspirational.

Three times he tried unsuccessfully to defect from his native Cuba with his family, with each failed trip resulting in a prison trip. Fernandez even said he was “treated like an animal” when he was behind bars. Finally, in 2008, he and his family made it to the United States, but it was a daunting journey, and at one point he needed to rescue his mother, Maritza, who had fallen overboard. His family eventually settled in Tampa, Fla., and a few years late he would become a pitching sensation.

Fernandez was Miami’s first-round pick in 2011, and at age 20, he broke into the Majors, becoming an All-Star and the National League Rookie of the Year in 2013.

For all of his successes, Fernandez repeatedly said after each start that he was truly “blessed.”

“The entire team stayed, and we just want to say to his family, if they’re listening, this is not about today or tomorrow. Jose’s a member of this family for all time and a member of the city of Miami, and all of South Florida, all of Cuban-Americans,” Samson said. “His story is representative of a story of hope and love and faith, and no one will ever let that story die.”

MLB.com

Image Cubs twitter