Cuban ballplayers mourn the loss of Fernandez

Chicago Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler played with Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez when the two were growing up in Cuba. They travelled together to Venezuela for a youth tournament.

Soler said Fernandez’s ability was obvious, right from the start.

“Since he was a child, since we were kids, I knew he had something,” Soler said through a translator. “He had a talent. It was very impressive.”

Fernandez’s death in a boating accident at the age of 24 cast a dark shadow over the major leagues Sunday. Miami’s home game against Atlanta was cancelled and several ballparks observed moments of silence. Wrigley Field’s iconic handoperated scoreboard displayed Fernandez’s No. 16 in its pitching column next to Miami.

But the loss of Fernandez was felt most acutely in baseball’s growing Cuban community.

“He was one of those guys that everybody loved,” St. Louis Cardinals catcher Brayan Pena said. “He was one of those guys that everybody knew exactly what he meant to our community. For us, it’s a big, big loss. It’s one of those things where our thoughts and prayers are obviously with his family, the Marlins’ organization and the fans. But it gets a little bit closer because he was part of our Cuban family.”

There were 23 Cubans on opening-day major league rosters this year, an increase of five over last season and the most since the commissioner’s office began releasing data in 1995. Many of the players share similar stories when it comes to their perilous journey from the communist country to the majors, and the difficulty of adjusting to life in the United States.

A native of Santa Clara, Cuba, Fernandez was unsuccessful in his first three attempts to defect, and spent several months in prison.

At 15, Fernandez and his mother finally made it to Mexico and were reunited in Florida with his father, who had escaped from Cuba two years earlier.

He was drafted by the Marlins in 2011, and quickly turned into one of the majors’ top pitchers.