Remembering Fernandez: ‘The energy he brought to the field was special’

A three-year-old GIF of Jose Fernandez was shared widely on Sunday morning, following news of the 24year-old Miami Marlins pitcher’s sudden death.

In it, Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, then with the Colorado Rockies, lines a rocket of a come-backer to the mound where Fernandez — then just 20 years old and en route to being named the National League’s rookie of the year — reaches up and snatches the ball out of the air.

Tulowitzki stops, bewildered. “Did you just catch that?” he says.

Fernandez, who initially tried to keep a straight face, lets out a bright, toothy grin. Then he nods and giggles his way off the field.

It was one of many moments in Fernandez’s career when he showed the obvious joy with which he played the game.

“I’ve seen that a couple times,” Tulowitzki said Sunday morning, while news of the tragedy was still trickling out. “I knew Jose obviously liked to have fun with the game. I was surprised that he caught it and I knew he was a good dude . . . obviously he gave a smile back and said, ‘I did.’ That’s something I’ll always remember.”

It was silent in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse Sunday morning as players watched the grim news conference in which details of Fernandez’s boating accident were relayed. The bodies of Fernandez and two friends were found early Sunday morning under their capsized boat, which crashed full speed into a section of rocks off Miami Beach at some point on Saturday night. Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the accident, but none of the passengers were wearing life vests, according to officials.

For Jays president Mark Shapiro, the tragedy recalled spring training of 1993 when he was working for the Cleveland Indians and two of the team’s pitchers, Tim Crews and Steve Olin, died in a boating accident.

“Whenever you hear something like that it brings some perspective back to the other pressures you feel on a day-to-day basis and reminds you of what’s most important in life,” Shapiro said. “You get a lump in your throat and a pit in your stomach. It’s a perspective blast.”

The Jays observed a moment of silence for Fernandez before Sunday’s game.

“The amount of energy that he brought to the field was special,” said Tulowitzki, who didn’t know Fernan- dez personally, aside from a few idle chats during batting practice. But you didn’t have to know him to appreciate what Fernandez brought to the game, Tulowitzki said. “I think just from watching the game or seeing the guy on highlights you can see how much energy he played with, how much passion he had for the game.”

Out of respect for Fernandez, Edwin Encarnacion chose not to play his walk-up music in Sunday’s game.

“I just didn’t feel good, listening to that music in that situation, in this moment,” he said after driving in the winning run in the Jays’ 4-3 victory over the Yankees. “It’s a very sad day for the baseball family.”

Encarnacion first met Fernandez at the 2013 all-star game.

“Baseball’s already tough as it is,” he said. “And a day like today makes it even more difficult and worse.”