Marlins, fans bid farewell to No. 16
More than 1,000 at public viewing
MIAMI — Hundreds were lined up outside St. Brendan Catholic Church in Southwest Miami-Dade on Wednesday afternoon waiting for their turn to file past beloved Miami Marlin pitcher Jose Fernandez’s casket and say their final goodbye.
By 4:30 p.m. local time — a half hour before the church was scheduled to open its doors for the public viewing — the crowd that stretched down Southwest 87th Avenue had grown to more than 1,000. The crowd continued to steadily build.
Many said they were prepared to wait for hours to pay their respects.
“I’m here representing the family” said Christina Blanco, 30, who drove from her home in West Palm Beach, Fla. Her husband was working and her parents couldn’t make the trek. “My parents are from Santa Clara, same hometown as Jose and so this is important.
“This brings us together as a community, the Cuban community,” said Blanco, an employment recruiter. “He represented the American dream and his death impacts us a lot.”
Earlier in the day fans gathered on the west plaza of Marlins Park to pay their respects as a hearse carried Fernandez’s body away from the ballpark he made his kingdom during a too-brief career.
Just before the hearse arrived to begin a funeral procession through Miami, rain began to fall. The shower was brief but the mood was set and tears continued to flow, particularly among Marlins players who formed a phalanx around the hearse to say a sorrowful farewell to their teammate.
All of the players wore a white T-shirt with a giant RIP on the front. The figure of Fernandez formed the I.
As hearse began to move along Felo Ramirez Drive — at 2:16 p.m., a nod to the No. 16 jersey Fernandez wore — the crowd started a chant of “Jose! Jose!” which later morphed into song.
Catcher J.T. Realmuto, batterymate for many of Fernandez’s performances while he compiled a remarkable 29-2 record at Marlins Park, peered in the window at the casket. Right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, wearing
dark sunglasses and towering above the rest, walked behind the Cadillac hearse alongside diminutive second baseman Dee Gordon.
It was Gordon who hit the dramatic home run leading off the bottom of the first inning Monday in the first game after Fernandez died in a boating accident along with two other men.
Before the hearse made the left turn onto Marlins Way it stopped. The players gathered around it for a silent moment as shouts of “We love you, Jose” continued to resound from the crowd.
As the players filed back to the ballpark, Stanton walked arm in arm with outfielder Marcell Ozuna, who had turned down an invitation from Fernandez to accompany him on the boat late Saturday.
Cuban-American Raquel Rodriguez, 30, said she was a fan, but was also there to represent her brother, Ricky Garcia, who plays college ball in Minnesota.
“Jose was a beacon of hope,” said Rodriguez, as her 2-year-old son Benjamin squirmed in her arms. “To hear his story, how he struggled and persevered — he showed people that you could do it, you can live the American dream.”
Charlie Ventura, 24, recalled how Fernandez stayed humble, even with success.
“He showed it in the way he worked at his game,” said Ventura, of Miami. “He sacrificed for his mother and grandmother.”
The shrine to Fernandez outside the stadium continued to grow, as fans arrived Wednesday with posters, caps, baseballs, gloves, pictures and messages.
“Jose, thanks you for leaving the world and the game better than you found it,” said one printed messaged taped to the wall.
“Big NY Mets fan! Bigger Jose Fernandez fan,” read another.
After the hearse bearing his body pulled away from the corner of Northwest 6th Street and 16th Avenue, where Fernandez’ teammates said their goodbyes, the stadium PA system began to play the Spanish language ballad “Yo Te Extranare,” (I Will Miss You) by the group Tercer Cielo.
Sitting outside the stadium, staring at Fernandez’s portrait on the electronic sign, was Adriane Knight, 50, on medical leave from her job as a concession stand manager. She said she was captivated by Fernandez and how he became the center of attention, even when he took the field to warm up.
“You had to keep your eyes on him,” said Knight, of Miami, “because with him you were always expecting something spectacular to happen.”
She was there to pay tribute, she said, “because I am not going to see him again. That is shocking.”
After leaving the stadium, the funeral procession was to make a brief stop at Ermita de la Caridad (Shrine of Our Lady of Charity), on South Miami Avenue, for a blessing. Our Lady of Charity is the patron siant of Cuba.
Earlier Wednesday, the Rev. Juan Rumin Dominguez, rector of Our Lady, told reporters, “This is a very sad situation for all of us, but we are praying with faith and hope for his soul and for his family.”