Seeing tears stream down David Ortiz’s face was a sobering moment for many baseball fans.
The Boston Red Sox designated hitter was friends with Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez, who died in a boating accident in Miami at the age of 24. Because of this, Ortiz asked the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday not to celebrate him before his final game at Tropicana Field, and the Rays observed a moment of silence instead.
And when the moment happened, all eyes were on the tearful Ortiz.
The news hit the Tampa, Fla., area particularly hard, as that’s where Fernandez went to high school after defecting from Cuba. Many other members of the Red Sox and the Rays expressed their disbelief over Fernandez’s death on social media.
The Marlins canceled their game against the Atlanta Braves, but other teams observed a moment of silence before their matchups, too.
