IT’S BLAST OF
Tears flow for Jose as pal leads off
MIAMI — Dee Gordon began to sob as he rounded third base. The Marlins second baseman pounded his fist to his chest three times as he crossed home plate and then lifted his hand to the sky twice, the tears running down his cheeks. He hugged Marcell Ozuna in the on-deck circle and then needed help getting down the dugout stairs, with his raw emotion on display.
There was crying in baseball Monday night. There were lots of tears and plenty of hugging, too. But there was also baseball in Miami less than 48 hours after the team’s ace, Jose Fernandez, one of the brightest young stars in the game, was killed in a boating accident. There had to be. And so it was as Gordon, the Marlins second baseman and Fernandez’s good friend, led off the game with a long home run, one of the most emotional moments the game will ever see.
“We are all devastated by what happened. It tells you how short life really is,” Terry Collins said before his Mets fell to the Marlins, 7-3. “And you have to press forward and get through some troubled times and right now. One thing Jose Fernandez epitomized was he loved the game, he respected the game and that’s why he played it like he did.
“Therefore, in respect for him and in his honor, we got to go out and respect the game and go play it and play it the right way and play with energy and play with enthusiasm,” the Mets manager said. “There is no other way about it.”
Fernandez was more than Miami’s best pitcher, one who seemed bound and determined to be a Cy Young winner one day. He was the joyous face of this franchise, who bridged the gap between communities here. To the Cuban people in Miami, he was like a son, one of their own who had fought to get here and became an American citizen living the Cuban-American dream. To baseball fans, he was the player who was going to lead this franchise back to a World Series.
Early Sunday morning that all came to a tragic end when Fernandez and two friends were killed on that boat. The 24-year-old had pitched four years in the big leagues and left his mark not only with his dazzling talent, but his obvious joy.
That was obvious in all the tributes Monday. A spontaneous memorial of flowers, pictures and candles grew outside Marlins Park. Team owner Jeffrey Loria said of his No. 16, “No Marlin will wear that number again.”
The grief extended beyond the home clubhouse. The Mets, cast in an awkward role, also felt the pain as both teams lined the field for a pregame ceremony for the pitcher.
After a moment of silence there was a simple video tribute. With just a trumpet playing “Take Me out to the Ballgame” in a slow, sad manner, the video board at Marlins Park flashed images of Fernandez’s too-short career and life.
At the end of the ceremony, after the national anthem, Collins walked over to Marlins manager Don Mattingly and hugged him just behind home plate. The Mets players and staff followed, meeting the Marlins players and staff on the infield. In a scene reminiscent of the moments after a playoff hockey series, they went through the line shaking hands and hugging.