Clubhouse goes quiet as Jays mourn death of Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez

TORONTO — The Blue Jays clubhouse was hushed Sunday, with all eight TVs tuned to a news conference detailing the boating accident that killed Miami Marlins star pitcher Jose Fernandez and two others off Miami Beach.

While there are no ex-Marlins in the Toronto lineup, the players knew him “as an opponent and fraternity brother across the way,” said veteran reliever Jason Grilli.

“It’s a shame that such a talent is gone. I can’t imagine having a teammate not show up,” he added. “We’re family.”

His fellow players clearly shared that pain. Fernandez was just 24.

“Sick to my stomach. Can’t believe this. #RIPJoseFernandez,” tweeted pitcher Marcus Stroman. 

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The Marlins cancelled their home game Sunday against the Atlanta Braves. The Jays added a moment of silence to honour Fernandez before their game against the Yankees.

“Baseball means nothing in light of that,” said Grilli. “I can understand why the (Marlins) game is cancelled, for very good reason. We get to play a game. But we’re not invincible, like anybody else. I tell people all the time we like beer and pizza too and we’re subject to the same things that everyone else is.

“We lost a very good one today.”

Toronto president Mark Shapiro said the tragedy showed the human side of baseball.

“We’ve got a veteran team … but you tend to forget, particularly people kind of watching from a distance, that these guys who do super-human things for three hours a day are just human beings and are just people. I think it reminds all of us what’s most important. Everybody probably goes home and pays a little more attention to their loved ones.”

But they also have to go back to work, he said. “It’s hard to do.”

Shapiro knows of what he speaks. His father Ron, a player agent, represented Indians pitcher Bobby Ojeda, who survived a Florida boating accident in March 1993. Two other Cleveland pitchers, Tim Crews and Steve Olin, were not as lucky.

Coincidentally, Shapiro’s father was in Toronto on Sunday.

“There’s no textbook and certainly you need to tap into people who are more experienced in dealing with that magnitude of grief,” said Mark Shapiro, who was early in his front office career with Cleveland at the time. “With Bob we had people that supported him within the community in Cleveland that we turned to. But it took him a very long time and it created a lot of challenges within his life, not just playing baseball, but just living his life.”

Cleveland strength coach Fernando Montes, whom Shapiro had a hand in hiring, was supposed to be on the boat that night. But he had to get some fishing gear and so wasn’t on the boat when it crashed into a dock.

“That was a crazy call to get and just a gut-wrenching experience for an organization,” said Shapiro. 

Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki remembered a Colorado at-bat against Fernandez where the pitcher stabbed a hot shot off his bat. A bemused Tulowitzki stopped several steps outside the batting box and looked at Fernandez. Replays clearly show the batter mouthing “Did you catch that?” Fernandez smiled back and nodded.

“I was surprised he caught it,” Tulowitzki recalled. “I knew he was a good dude, obviously, (when) he gave me a smile back and said “I did (catch it).’ Something I will always remember.”

Tulowitzki said the Jays knew of Fernandez’s talent, energy and passion for the game.

“It’s a sad day for baseball really. It’s terrible. You don’t even know what to say. I found myself already today just sitting around thinking about it because it really can happen to anybody in this locker-room, to anybody’s family. It’s difficult.”

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press