Sunday morning, Sept. 25, I woke up and checked my phone. I looked down at the screen and saw the heartbreaking news that José Fernandez had died.
Fernandez, only 24 years old, was one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball with a career record of 38-17 with a 2.58 ERA for the Miami Marlins, but he was more than just a great young pitcher.
Fernandez tried to escape Cuba on multiple occasions, but was caught three times before his forth escape when he finally fled to Florida. On that final and successful attempt, he jumped out of the boat at one point to save his drowning mother. Fernandez at age 15 started his whole life over in Tampa, Florida. He was in a new country with a different culture and without his grandmother, who helped raise him when he was little and his parents were in prison for trying to escape.
José Fernandez was happy, though, to be in a land where he could be truly free. Before becoming an American citizen, he often told reporters early in his career that the happiest day of his life will be when he becomes an citizen, something that became a reality in 2015.
Here is a man who escaped an oppressive communist government to come to this country and went on to make a lot of money and win many awards, but the happiest day of his life was when he became a citizen. Some Americans many feel they are being depraved of some rights in this country, but Fernandez understood that the freedoms we have in America are not something everyone around the world has.
José Fernandez died in the early hours Sunday morning in a boating accident. He will be remembered as energetic, youthful and nice to everyone. The entire baseball world was shocked and grief stricken by the news of his death. Players cried on the field during the moment of silence at each ballpark.
The Miami Marlins canceled their Sunday game. When they resumed play on Monday, it was the most emotional thing I’ve ever seen in my life. No one in that stadium had a dry eye, including myself, watching the game on my laptop as the players lined-up wearing black jerseys with Fernandez’s name on the back and his number, 16.
Eyes welled up again when Dee Gordon, one of Fernandez’s best friends, rounded the bases after hitting a home run to begin the game. The stadium became emotion again as the Marlins outfielders hugged and pointed to the sky after the game, and one final time that night as the team took their hats off after the game and left them on the pitcher’s mound in salute to the fallen pitcher.
Yet, on Monday, instead of watching a pointless name calling and lie fest between a 70-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman (also known as the presidential debate), or instead of watching a bunch of football players kneel during the national anthem in protest of something most of them don’t have an actual idea of how to fix, I watched an entire stadium cry and pray and remember the life of a young man who loved this country because he was finally free here.
On Tuesday, instead of watching people fight about who “won” the debate (as if this election year any of us are going to win), I watched St. Louis Cardinal's Aledmys Díaz, a childhood friend of Fernandez back in Cuba, hit a grand slam and lift his helmet to the sky in honor of his friend.
On Wednesday, instead of watching people who feel like they are being depraved of rights complain on TV, I watched Fernandez’s hearse drive to Marlins Park. The entire Marlins team and organization surrounded and put their hands on the hearse to say goodbye to a friend, teammate and inspiration.
We all need to take a page from José Fernandez and stop complaining about this great country, stop fighting with each other over politics or blame other races for problems we face, and instead live life with joy and love the freedoms we all enjoy every day in the United States.
Decanse en paz José Fernandez, no será olvidado.
Jimmy Farmer is a freshman studying journalism with a focus in news and information at Ohio University. How did the death of José Fernandez effect you? Let Jimmy know by either emailing him or tweeting him at jf744915@ohio.edu or @jimmyfarmer13.
