Monday 26 September 2016

Remembering Jose Fernandez

In the hours following the tragic news that one of baseball's brightest young stars, Jose Fernandez, had died in a boating accident I found myself wondering why his death had affected me so greatly. This was a man I had never met, whose life was wildly different from my own and who, frankly, wouldn't have looked twice at me had we been the only people in a room. Yet as I scrolled through twitter and read through articles yesterday afternoon, stunned into silence and feeling sick to my stomach, I realised I was not alone in being profoundly touched by his passing. It was not just that Fernandez had been taken from this earth at the far-too-tender age of 24, not just that he was one of the most supremely talented players we have ever had the pleasure to see, not just that he revealed just five days ago that his girlfriend was expecting a child in a gut-wrenching instagram post. The reason, in my opinion, why the news of Fernandez' death brought the world of baseball to a stand-still and brought grown men to tears was his incredible love of life, his relentless desire to enjoy himself as much as possible and make the lives of his family, his friends and his fans better in everything that he did. Jose Fernandez was an extraordinarily good pitcher, but by all accounts was an even greater person.

Thousands of words have been written on the death of Fernandez since the news broke 24 hours ago, from touching tributes across the sporting world to beautiful pieces of journalism from the likes of Jeff Passan. In truth, there is no reason for me to write more words, mine are guaranteed to be lost among the cacophony of grief, of tributes, of memories, each infinitely more befitting than anything I could possibly say. Yet such was the impact of his joie de vivre, his exuberant love of life and his infectious smile that I feel compelled to celebrate his achievements, his brilliance, his happiness. Jose Fernandez would not have wanted me to mourn his death but instead to celebrate his life and that is precisely what I will endeavour to do.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By now, I'm sure you know the story of how Fernandez came to America, but it bears repeating.  In many respects his journey was a familiar one for Cubans: each year thousands of people attempt to make the 90 mile crossing to Miami and indeed many of baseball's stars have defected from Cuba themselves, including Jose Abreu and Yoenis Cespedes. The journey remains, however, a brutally dangerous one. Many Cubans fashion boats themselves out of scrap metal and anything else they hope to use to survive the rough stretch of ocean in the hope they will safely land on US soil. The United States, for its part, operates a bizarre 'wet foot, dry foot' policy towards Cuban immigrants which dictates that any defectors found out at sea by the coastguard must be returned to Cuba (and more than likely face prison) but those lucky enough to make it to land are able to stay.

There are always a lucky few who manage to successfully navigate the journey, but from the eagle-eyed Cuban authorities who receive constant tip-offs about deportation attempts to the horrendously dangerous journey across open water, usually in the pitch black, to the hawkish attitude of the US coastguard that patrols the Florida waters there are threats abound. Jose Fernandez would attempt the journey three times unsuccessfully. He would spend several months in a Cuban prison at the age of 14, surrounded by murderers and criminals. When he was eventually released, he planned another attempt with his mother, this time to Mexico rather than the United States. Having successfully made it on to the boat, sea sickness appeared to be the biggest of Fernandez's problems but towards the end of the trip, Jose's mother was carried off the boat by a particularly large wave. Unaware at the time who had splashed into the water, Fernandez wasted no time and dived right in. Twenty bruising minutes spent fighting the rough sea later, he returned to the boat, exhausted but alive having saved his mother's life. He was 15 years old.

The journey, of course, was not yet over. Having reached Mexico, Fernandez could not rest on his laurels as the 'wet foot, dry foot' policy of the US does not exist across the border. When five officers stopped his bus near the US border, it seemed that fate had dealt one final, crushing blow to his dream but the officers instead chose to take jewellery and money: Fernandez and his mother finally reached Texas safely and could begin their American dream. The rest, as they say, is history. A wonderful article on grantland details the intensity of Fernandez's regimen when he was a high school player. He was confident, cocky in honesty, but worked harder than anyone. Throwing 96 as a 17 year old, he dominated high school and caught the attention of Marlins pitching coach Chuck Hernandez. In 2011, at the age of 18, he was drafted in the first round by Miami. Generally regarded as a top twenty talent in the draft class, few scouts could have anticipated the impact he would have just two years later.

Following a dominant 2012 campaign in which he blew away minor league hitters at the Marlins single-A level, he was a shocking call-up to start the season in Miami after their rotation was plagued by injury. Strangely enough, Keith Law actually replied to my tweet about J-Fer and his view was pretty much industry consensus at the time:



Fernandez was talented, of that there could be no doubt but many talented pitchers have struggled. Just from his own draft, Dylan Bundy, Trevor Bauer, Danny Hultzen, Taylor Jungmann and Archie Bradley are all former top prospects who are yet to really make it work in the Majors - much less at the age of 20 with less than 150 innings of professional under their belt. I remember excitedly setting his first ever start in my diary, a tilt at Citi Field against the Mets. He was breathlessly good. One earned run, one walk and three hits to go along with five innings, eight strikeouts and just eighty pitches.


The fastball hummed at 97mph, quick by anyone's standard and he showed impressive command with it too.


Sweet lord just look at that pitch. He was 20 years old!


GIFs all property of splashit.mlblogs.com

That is a paid major league hitter being made to look like he's never swung a bat before. Three different pitches, and they all made hitters look foolish. Fernandez wasn't just good, he was showing off the kind of stuff that would make him one of the best pitchers in the league. That is exactly what happened, as he went 12-6 in his first season, with a 2.19 ERA and finished third in Cy Young voting. He wasn't just good for a 20 year old, he was one of the best in the game. Ever since that first start against New York, Jose Fernandez has been the most unfair pitcher to face in the league.

As of today, Fernandez is number one all-time in strikeout percentage. No starting pitcher in the history of baseball could match his 31.2% number. He had the best home ERA of all time! All time! He had four career games with at least 12 strikeouts and 0 walks. Nolan Ryan also had four. It wasn't just that Fernandez had potential, it's that he was one of the best there has ever been by almost any measurable stat in his career. Fernandez tore the UCL in his arm in 2014 and underwent Tommy John surgery on May 16th. He was back pitching in the Major Leagues on July 2nd 2015. That is a remarkably quick turnaround from such a debilitating injury. He didn't just return healthy, he returned dominant and in 2016 he was better than ever. To pick a couple of admittedly arbitrary dates, between May 9th and June 26th of this season, Fernandez had a 1.18 ERA in 61 innings with 91 strikeouts, giving up just 35 hits. Since his debut in 2013, Jose Fernandez ranks behind only Clayton Kershaw (who may end up the greatest pitcher of all time) in almost every important pitching category. He wasn't just a prodigious talent, he was one of the best players any of us will have the pleasure of seeing.

Alright, alright, you get it. He was a really good pitcher. You didn't come here to hear that. You came here to see him be awesome.







Those two came from the same start in which his curveball, nicknamed 'the defector' moved like it was on a string. That was also the same game we had this incredible moment.


At the end of his rookie season, the Marlins opted to limit his innings count, and so his final start came against the Braves on September 11th 2013. Obviously he pitched great, but he also did this:


If you haven't seen the video before (or even if you have) go look it up because Fernandez crushed the ever-living snot out of the baseball. It wasn't a wall-scraper down the line, it was a god damn bomb, in his final start, at home. I've never hit a home run in front of 20,000 fans but I imagine I'd watch it too. Of course, the Braves got pissy and Brian McCann tried to exact some kind of weird unnecessary justice at home plate. Did Fernandez care?



Did he balls. He's just happy he hit a home run. Who the hell wouldn't be? It's not as though Fernandez only enjoys his own success either. Here he looks begrudgingly impressed after Carlos Gonzalez drills a home run off him.


When Kenta Maeda fools him with a slider, Fernandez returns to the dugout impressed.


When Evan Longoria hits a home run off him, Fernandez jokingly tells him that such brazen displays of power aren't entirely necessary.


Fernandez was not afraid to get excited for his team-mates. In fact, he appears to be the opposite of afraid.


Occasionally, Fernandez was the one made to look silly.


But he still can't help but smile. Poor Fernando Rodney receives a less than flattering dugout impression.


I could go on and on and on. Fernandez was not just a wonderfully gifted pitcher but a ridiculously fun person, who had the kind of charm and charisma that made him a magnet out on the field. In just two full big league seasons he has inspired a whole host of young players who want to play like Jose Fernandez. The fun he has out on the field is addictive, to be honest he made a thoroughly unwatchable Marlins team bloody entertaining for a few seasons. I may never get the chance to see Jose Fernandez pitch live again, but I will forever carry with me an image of that contagious smile and his love for the game. Thank you Jose.


Posted by at
Labels: , ,

1 comment:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)