Marlins remember Jose Fernandez in 1st game since pitcher's death
All Miami players wear pitcher's No. 16 for final time
A day after Jose Fernandez's death, every corner of Marlins Park was decorated to pay tribute to the 24-year-old pitcher who was killed in a boating accident early Sunday morning.
Still reeling with grief, the Miami Marlins players all wore Fernandez's No. 16 as they took the field ahead of their game against the New York Mets. Earlier in the day, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria told reporters that Monday would be the last time one of their players donned the number.
The packed house began proceedings with a moment of silence. Both teams embraced on the diamond before each Marlin inscribed Fernandez's initials on the mound. Monday would have marked his last start of the season.
Dee Gordon, one of Fernandez's closest friends on the team, paid a tribute of his own by hitting a leadoff home run for the Marlins. The 28-year-old ran the bases with tears streaming down his face. It was his first home run of the season. The team went on to claim a 7-3 victory over the Mets.
"This is shallow, but the show goes on," Marlins president David Samson said earlier in the day. "There has been a lot of talking and a lot of crying and a lot of praying and a lot of trying to make sense of something you can't make sense of. There is no sense to a life ended like that, in a way that is so meaningless.
"It's our job to make his life matter, so we're going to do that forever, and forever starts today."
Plans for a public funeral have yet to be finalized, but it is expected to be Thursday, the Marlins' final off day of the season.
Fernandez defected from Cuba at age 15, won the NL Rookie of the Year award, became a two-time All Star and had a career record of 29-2 at Marlins Park. His enormous popularity in South Florida bridged the divide between the franchise and fans antagonized by too much losing and too many payroll purges.
Fernandez left behind a girlfriend who is expecting their first child, the mother who came with him to the United States and the grandmother who helped raise him.
On Sunday evening, the entire team took two buses to Fernandez's family home and met for 45 minutes with his mother, grandmother and other relatives and friends.
Fernandez's agent, Scott Boras, spoke to reporters near the batting cage — or at least tried to. He said he paid his respects to the family before coming to the ballpark.
"His mother wanted me to tell everyone how she felt," Boras said. "She showed me pictures of him as a boy. She actually made his uniform when he was 7 or 8, with Cuban red pants." Boras then cut short the interview because he couldn't stop crying.
With files from the Associated Press