Jose Fernandez killed in boating accident

cheekydave

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Jun 11, 2004
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Horrible. And I hink of a little boy or girl that will never meet their daddy, whether a baseball hero, or a working class hero.
 

johnmd20

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Boating at night is brutal under the best of circumstances. Doing it close to the shore at full speed risks this result. Just a waste and completely tragic.
 

Rovin Romine

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Probably shouldn't be operating any watercraft without any lights at any sort of speed. If there's no ambient light, it would be pretty easy to miss some of those rocks or a sandbar.
It's right off South Beach, so there's a lot of points for visual reference. Since they struck the tip of the jetty at full speed, it seems most likely the pilot misjudged where he was. It's not like the jetty/Government Cut isn't a well known landmark. I don't go out much, but it's something even I recognize is "there" on my mental map.

I wonder if the weather played a role. I know it was raining last night, and I remember lightning when I woke up at some point. Also, it was crazy humid yesterday. Not the best of days to go out on the water. (Lower than normal activity at some of the local launch places.)
 

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
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Being out on a boat at 3am doesn't exactly suggest sound decision making. Maybe they were just getting an early start on fishing. Was he supposed to be pitching today?

Very sad.
The boat was found at 3 am. Accident could've happened much earlier.
 

dcmissle

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Am I the only one who had flashbacks to the Bobby Ojeda (he survived, the other guys didn't) boat crash?
You are not alone. This is crushing on every level. It will burn more brightly because of his stature, but it is the same very sad story on a personal level.

Hug your family; enjoy life. This has been the most enjoyable baseball week in years, and this really takes a lot from it.
 

Investor 11

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Jul 23, 2006
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This really sucks. Woke up to a slew of text messages from friends in Florida, but it's still hard to believe.
 

Brand Name

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Oct 6, 2010
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Fucking fuck. Just at a loss for words. As it's been mentioned, it's been beyond baseball. Great as he was to watch in both pitching and style, there is the reality about an unborn child never getting to meet their father, which is terrible.

I'm trying to think of an equivalent scenario if this happened to the sox, but I honestly cant.
For a player of Fernandez's caliber? Perhaps Chick Stahl, in 1907? That was a suicide via carbolic acid, granted, but rather unexpected. By overall reaction from local community, Lynn's own Harry Agganis in 1955, from a pulmonary embolism.
 

Greg29fan

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Jul 14, 2005
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So sad. He played the game with joy, talent, and enthusiasm that was always a treat to watch. RIP Jose.
 

JimD

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Nov 29, 2001
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Not the biggest part of the story by any means, but it's ridiculous to think that Fernandez's total career earnings to date were a mere $1,776,000. He did turn down several contract extension offers but by all accounts those appear to have been vastly lowball offers from the cheapo Marlins.
 

Marciano490

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Nov 4, 2007
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Not the biggest part of the story by any means, but it's ridiculous to think that Fernandez's total career earnings to date were a mere $1,776,000. He did turn down several contract extension offers but by all accounts those appear to have been vastly lowball offers from the cheapo Marlins.
I was wondering that. I don't know if there's precedent, but I'd give the Marlins a lot of credit if they started a charity for his wife and child and donated a couple million to it.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Apr 12, 2005
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Been watching this since I woke up around 8:00, and caught the news. I truly believe this kid had Pedro type potential, and the idea of losing Pedro at 24, and missing out on what he did over the rest of his career is hard to think about. When he was healthy, he was the best pitcher to take the mound, not named Kershaw, since he came into the league. Off the field, he was everything you'd want from a young star. Humble, hard working, devoted...His story is unreal on almost every level. Maybe the biggest loss for MLB since Roberto Clemente.
 

mauidano

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Aug 21, 2006
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Jus woke up here in Hawaii to this absolutely crushing news. My nephew texted me. He's a 20 year old ball player in the D-Backs organization with a three day old baby. I hate this so much. I want to go back to sleep and believe it was a nightmare. Heartbreaking.
 

Ed Hillel

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Dec 12, 2007
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I would say total up his 13.9 WAR and pay the going rate of value that 1 WAR costs in $. IIRC, its $7mil/WAR. Correct me if I'm wrong.
This is the Marlins ownership, you'll be lucky to see seven dollars per WAR. Given their location, I'd guess this is also a pretty big blow to their attendance every fifth home game.
 

barbed wire Bob

crippled by fear
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It's right off South Beach, so there's a lot of points for visual reference. Since they struck the tip of the jetty at full speed, it seems most likely the pilot misjudged where he was. It's not like the jetty/Government Cut isn't a well known landmark. I don't go out much, but it's something even I recognize is "there" on my mental map.

I wonder if the weather played a role. I know it was raining last night, and I remember lightning when I woke up at some point. Also, it was crazy humid yesterday. Not the best of days to go out on the water. (Lower than normal activity at some of the local launch places.)
The human eye doesn't work well at night and it's really easy to misjudge distances and become disoriented. Combine that with a black ocean and the glare from the city lights it's really easy to see how someone could misjudge the distance. This is from an article discussing flying at night.
Night vision is of particular importance to pilots operating aircraft at night. According to the American Optometric Association, “Visual acuity may be reduced to 20/200 or less, color vision is lost, blue-green lights will appear brighter while red lights will appear dimmer, problems may occur with night myopia, depth perception is degraded, glare is a factor, and a central blind spot is present.” These effects are common participants in the formation of night illusions.
http://www.decodedscience.org/night-vision-in-aviation-how-pilots-see-in-the-dark/13061

Just sad.
 

bosoxsue

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I'm trying to think of an equivalent scenario if this happened to the sox, but I honestly cant.



So sad -- the smile on his face is sheer joy, like what you'd see on a kid playing the game.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
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Boating at night is brutal under the best of circumstances. Doing it close to the shore at full speed risks this result. Just a waste and completely tragic.
I don't think that people in general realize how dangerous boating is. It's a great time, I love doing it, but the liberties people take on boats which they wouldn't in a car is crazy. Driving at night with no lights? Speeding? Drunk boating is basically a national past time in a lot of places (although they said that it's not suspected here)

I hate boating at night. it's beautiful but it's so easy to get disoriented, not a see a rock or another dumbass night boater with no lights or not paying attention.
 

Marciano490

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Nov 4, 2007
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I don't think that people in general realize how dangerous boating is. It's a great time, I love doing it, but the liberties people take on boats which they wouldn't in a car is crazy. Driving at night with no lights? Speeding? Drunk boating is basically a national past time in a lot of places (although they said that it's not suspected here)

I hate boating at night. it's beautiful but it's so easy to get disoriented, not a see a rock or another dumbass night boater with no lights or not paying attention.
Don't a lot of boats have sonar or some system like cars have for parking now where there's an alarm that beeps when you're approaching land? Obviously worthless at high speeds, but some measure of safety otherwise.
 

johnmd20

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I don't think that people in general realize how dangerous boating is. It's a great time, I love doing it, but the liberties people take on boats which they wouldn't in a car is crazy. Driving at night with no lights? Speeding? Drunk boating is basically a national past time in a lot of places (although they said that it's not suspected here)

I hate boating at night. it's beautiful but it's so easy to get disoriented, not a see a rock or another dumbass night boater with no lights or not paying attention.
I did a lot of boating when I was younger. I boated once at night, on a calm bay that was decently lit and no rocks anywhere. It was the one and only time I boated at night. It was just really scary and disorienting to be so blind.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
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Don't a lot of boats have sonar or some system like cars have for parking now where there's an alarm that beeps when you're approaching land? Obviously worthless at high speeds, but some measure of safety otherwise.
Not on the boats I've been on, but I'm a lower end boater (17-25 footers usually), not an NFL player's rig. They will beep when you're entering shallow water and warn you. I'm sure there are higher end boats that have some sort of front facing system.

They're thinking speed is a factor from what i heard on the radio. A boat going 40-50 or so in the ocean is pretty damn fast compared to what people are used to in a car.
 

LogansDad

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Nov 15, 2006
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Alamogordo
Fuck. I don't have the words a lot of you do. He was easily my favorite non-laundry playing in all of sports, and I know even that is putting it selfishly, but I'm just devastated by this.

The sport of baseball lost a lot of its fun this morning.
 

moondog80

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Sep 20, 2005
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I would say total up his 13.9 WAR and pay the going rate of value that 1 WAR costs in $. IIRC, its $7mil/WAR. Correct me if I'm wrong.
It's a horrible situation to be sure, but it's wildly unfair to expect the Marlins to give his estate close to 100 mil, if that's what you're suggesting.