The tragic death of Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez on Sunday touched all of Major League Baseball, including Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz.
Ortiz was a huge fan of Hernandez, and the admiration was mutual. Fernandez started following Ortiz while in middle school, and a moment during the 2006 World Baseball Classic cemented the Cuban pitcher’s love for the Boston slugger.
“(Ortiz) hit a home run against Cuba,” Fernandez told Evan Drellich of The Boston Herald in June. “That was the most amazing thing that I ever saw: completely out of the stadium.
“That was the first time I ever saw him play, so I fell in love with him. I was in seventh grade. And he hit that ball against a really good Cuban pitcher, so that blew my mind.”
Ortiz tweeted his thoughts on Fernandez’s death before the Red Sox took on the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Sunday afternoon.
Ortiz also asked the Rays to cancel the pre-game tribute they had planned for the Red Sox designated hitter, instead wanting the focus to be on remembering Fernandez’s life and career.
Thumbnail photo via Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports Images
