And Now His Watch Is Ended
How Jose Fernandez affected baseball on and off the field
Jose Fernandez, superstar pitcher for the Miami Marlins, was found dead Sept. 25, due to a boating accident. The baseball world has been mourning the tragic loss, as Fernandez was a proud representative of the Latin-American community with his skill and charisma on and off the field.
Fernandez and two others were found dead after crashing into a jetty near Miami beach just after midnight.
Fernandez was only 15 when he embarked on a dangerous journey from Cuba to the U.S., seeking to defect from Cuba in order to continue his prospects of playing professional baseball in the big leagues. He and his mother tried three times to defect from Cuba, all three unsuccessful and leading to Jose being incarcerated in a Cuban prison for trying to defect.
The fourth time, he and his mother took another route, arriving via the south of Mexico, and had to swim for fifteen minutes with his mother grabbing onto his left shoulder. His mother was swept off their boat by a “stupid big wave,” said Fernandez.
Fernandez made pitched his way to the majors and became Rookie of the Year in 2013 for the National League. He quickly became one of the bright young faces in baseball with his brilliant pitching repertoire and command of the strike zone.
For young Latino ball-players, Fernandez was a beacon of hope for those who want to make it in the big leagues. Many of these players from poor economic backgrounds risk everything to try and make it big, and Fernandez was one of the microscopic few who lived the dream — striking out big leaguers for a living.
It’s come a full-circle for a man who, by boat, started his new life in America — to become rich, successful and famous — to then meet his demise by crashing off the jetties in the early morning with two others on board. Officials stated that Fernandez was not wearing a life vest.
His funeral service took place on September 29, 2016. His ashes were scattered on the site of the crash, out in the sea, on October 3, 2016. He was 24-years-old and was an expecting father to his unborn daughter.
