Miami Marlins Pitcher José Fernández Killed in Boating Accident

José Fernández, the Miami Marlins ace pitcher who defected from Cuba as a teenager to emerge as one of the most exciting and beloved young stars in all of baseball, died early Sunday in a boat crash off Miami Beach. He was 24.

The news of Fernández’s death reverberated across South Florida and the nation, leaving the tightknit baseball community to mourn the unexpected loss of a player widely viewed as a face of the sport.

“There’s no words to describe how this organization feels,” said Marlins President David Samson, joined by the entire team at an emotional press conference at Marlins Park on Sunday. “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.”

Fernández was one of three people killed in the accident, the details of which remain under investigation.

A U.S. Coast Guard crew on routine patrol discovered a 32-foot center-console SeaVee fishing vessel overturned shortly after 3:15 a.m. with two bodies underneath and another in the water nearby. The other two individuals, both males in their 20s, were friends of Fernández and not professional athletes.

Lorenzo Veloz, an official from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, told reporters that the boat appeared to have been traveling at full speed when it struck a jetty and capsized. There was no immediate evidence that alcohol or illegal drugs were a factor in the crash. None of the three on board was wearing a life vest.

Last week, Fernández posted a picture of his pregnant girlfriend on Instagram, announcing that the couple was expecting its first child.

“Sadly, the brightest lights are often the ones that extinguish the fastest,” Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria said in a statement. “Jose left us far too soon, but his memory will endure in all of us.”

Among baseball fans, Fernández’s back story and rapid ascension to superstardom was already the stuff of legends.

He tried—and failed—to defect from Cuba on three separate occasions, spending time in prison for his efforts to flee the country. On his fourth attempt to escape, the 15-year-old Fernández dived into the water to rescue a woman from drowning after a wave swept her overboard. When he jumped in, he didn’t know that it was his mother whose life he was about to save.

“He represented freedom in a way that most no one here can understand, certainly not me, when you’re born into freedom,” Samson said. “He always would tell me that. ‘You were born into freedom, you don’t understand freedom, really,’ was his famous line that he said so many times to many of us.”

Once he arrived in the U.S., it didn’t take long for Fernández to establish himself as a transcendent talent.

Drafted with the 14th overall pick in the 2011 draft out of Braulio Alonso High School, Tampa Fla., Fernández ascended straight from single-A to the major leagues in 2013. He made his debut April 7 of that year against the New York Mets, allowing one run in five innings and striking out eight.

“When the first pitch left his hand, the first thought is, ‘Oh, wow, this is something special,’” Mets manager Terry Collins said Sunday.

Collins was right.

Though he started just 76 games—interrupted by reconstructive elbow surgery that limited him to just 19 total appearances in 2014 and 2015—Fernández had all the makings of a pitcher destined for historical greatness. He finished his career with a 2.58 ERA, striking out 589 batters in 471 1/3 innings.

In statements Sunday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred described Fernández as “one of our great young stars who made a dramatic impact on and off the field.” Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLB Players Association, called Fernández “a remarkable young man and a tremendously gifted athlete, who, at just 24, established himself as one of the game’s biggest and brightest stars.”

Beyond his ability on the mound, Fernández already was known as an icon and an ambassador for baseball, bringing flair and personality to a sport that historically has repressed public displays of exuberance.

“I see such a little boy in him with the way he played,” said Marlins manager Don Mattingly, pausing multiple times to fight back tears. “You just see that little kid that you see when you watch kids play Little League or something like that. That’s the joy that Jose played with.”

Across the league, teams honored Fernández with tributes and moments of silence before their games. At Marlins Park, the scoreboard displayed a large 16, Fernández’s uniform number. Fans left flowers outside the stadium.

The Marlins canceled Sunday’s scheduled game against the Atlanta Braves, but Samson said the team will play Monday against the Mets. Fernández had been scheduled to start.

Fernández pitched his final game Sept. 20 against the Washington Nationals. He gave up three hits in eight shutout innings with 12 strikeouts in a 1-0 Miami win.

“He told one of his teammates that the last game that he pitched against the Nationals was his best game he ever pitched,” Marlins infielder Martin Prado said. “And now he’s gone, and it’s hard.”

Source: WSJ