MIAMI -- Nearly 10 months after the death of Jose Fernandez at age 24, the Miami Marlins pitcher remains a captivating and polarizing figure. An investigation determined that Fernandez had cocaine and alcohol in his system when his boat wrecked off the South Florida coast in late September, and he was assigned the blame for a crash that killed him and two passengers. Those troublesome details are a challenge for even his most ardent fans to ignore.
Fernandez's former teammates choose to remember him in a different light. They miss him deeply at the 88th All-Star Game because they're certain he would be a participant if he were still alive.
Marlins outfielders Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna began discussing this year's All-Star Game in earnest with Fernandez after the 2016 Midsummer Classic in San Diego. During those conversations, Fernandez made it clear that July 11, 2017, in Miami was of paramount importance on his schedule.
"We talked with Jose about this day and this week," Stanton said during Monday's All-Star Game media session. "The No. 1 thing for him to that point besides winning the Cy Young was to start this game, so we talked about it a lot."
Fernandez fell short of winning a Cy Young Award over four seasons with the Marlins, but his brilliance was undeniable. He logged a 38-17 record with a 2.58 ERA, captured a Rookie of the Year Award and finished third behind Clayton Kershaw and Adam Wainwright in the 2013 Cy Young race at age 20. Any objective list of the elite starters in baseball ranked him among the top five or six.
Beyond his mid-90s fastball and devastating curve, Fernandez approached the game with a rare energy that he found difficult to harness between starts. He flitted around the clubhouse, constantly chatting, and his teammates always knew where he was. The enthusiasm that resonated with fellow Marlins also made him wildly popular with émigrés from his native Cuba and the fan base in Miami.
"Every time before I faced him, he would nod his hat at me and I would do the same back at him because I knew a war was about to happen. It was 98 miles an hour coming at you like a train." Yonder Alonso on Jose Fernandez
"Honestly, I think about Jose a lot," said Marlins manager Don Mattingly, a member of Joe Maddon's NL All-Star coaching staff. "All the time. This would be his stage. He would be having so much fun here, he would be basically out of control.
"Jose was infectious. It was hard not to like Jose. You had the competitive side and the fun side. He was great with the fans and great with kids. He had a big heart. And this market was perfect for him, with so many Cuban and Latino fans. It's hard to replace that. There are only a few pitchers like him, but there also are only a few people like that. It's definitely been a void for us."
The Marlins are wearing a uniform patch in honor of Fernandez this season, and they've kept his nameplate and preserved his gear behind a pane of glass in a locker stall in the home clubhouse at Marlins Park. Fans can still pass by the concourse and see Fernandez's No. 16 on an orange tribute wall adorning a pillar outside the stadium.
In April, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria told ESPN.com that the team planned to build a statue in Fernandez's honor outside Marlins Park. Loria has since refrained from comment on the topic as he negotiates to sell the franchise, and Major League Baseball has no Fernandez ceremonies planned for the All-Star Game festivities in Miami.
Fernandez's influence isn't limited to the Marlins' clubhouse and dugout. Oakland Athletics first baseman Yonder Alonso, a fellow native of Cuba, came to know Fernandez during a charity softball game arranged by Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez. Alonso was instantly pulled into Fernandez's orbit. He routinely shared pregame hugs with Fernandez at the batting cage, but he knew he was in for a challenge when they were competitors.
"Every time before I faced him, he would nod his hat at me and I would do the same back at him because I knew a war was about to happen," Alonso said. "It was 98 miles an hour coming at you like a train.
"It's sad, because he's not here, and we all know he would have been here. But at the same time, there's a sense of energy that he's here. This place was pretty much built with Jose. I know he's around here somewhere."