Jose Fernandez killed in boating accident

Soxfan in Fla

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So many great people have passed away this year. Many have been tough to swallow because of their impact but most at least had lived a pretty full life. Jose's was in so many ways just starting. This one is truly hard to swallow. I'm numb.
 

Infield Infidel

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A friend of mine taught him in 12 grade ESL, said he was a joy to have in class, the type of naturally charismatic student who could crack the class up with laughter but then would always steer the class's attention to the teacher. He was a leader in class and always encouraged his classmates, and his class had the highest ESL scores in the county his senior year.
 

Wingack

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Not sure this has been posted, but from Giancarlo's instagram:

giancarlo818I'm still waiting to wake up from this nightmare. I lost my brother today and can't quite comprehend it. The shock is overwhelming. What he meant to me , our team, the city of Miami, Cuba & everyone else in the world that his enthusiasm/heart has touched can never be replaced. I can't fathom what his family is going through because We, as his extended Family are a wreck. I gave him the nickname Niño because he was just a young boy Amongst men , yet those men could barely compete with him . He had his own level, one that was changing the game. EXTRAORDINARY, as a person before the player. Yet still just a kid, who's joy lit up the stadium more than lights could. A kid whose time came too soon. One that I will miss & never forget. Rest In Peace Niño, Jose Fernandez
 

DeadlySplitter

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worst premature baseball death since Clemente?

still pretty numb seeing all the reaction, the stories, and the massive sense of loss
 

Sampo Gida

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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.
They said there was no evidence of alcohol or drugs. They said the same thing with Taveras. Have to wait for lab results. Youth, late night, high speed fatal crashes w/o other vehicles involved are all red flags. No idea who was driving the boat though, unlike Taveras, and in the end it doesnt really matter except to insurance companies. Tragic either way

I understand there is not much in the way to assessing the qualifications of those given a license to drive a high speed boat in the evening. That may be part of the problem, but to drive a boat full speed into a well known jetty?. If conditions were not great in terms of visibility and one was not great at driving by radar, the normal driver reduces speed.
 

moondog80

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worst premature baseball death since Clemente?

still pretty numb seeing all the reaction, the stories, and the massive sense of loss
They're all tragic of course, but Clemente was 37 at the time. This is more like Len Bias, if Len Bias had actually played 3 seasons at an all-star level. This might be the greatest robbery of future greatness in all of sports.
 

Marciano490

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They're all tragic of course, but Clemente was 37 at the time. This is more like Len Bias, if Len Bias had actually played 3 seasons at an all-star level. This might be the greatest robbery of future greatness in all of sports.
And not died of a cocaine overdose.
 

axx

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I understand there is not much in the way to assessing the qualifications of those given a license to drive a high speed boat in the evening. That may be part of the problem, but to drive a boat full speed into a well known jetty?. If conditions were not great in terms of visibility and one was not great at driving by radar, the normal driver reduces speed.
Yeah, which TBH if the 3 show up clean I would be a little suspicious as to why they were out there in the first place.
 

Marciano490

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Lot of good years by NL pitchers this year, but does Fernandez get Cy Young votes? He was in the top handful anyways, but probably not up there with Scherzer or Hendricks or Lester.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Down the ballot I'm sure he will get some, but I doubt voters will make a concerted effort to give him one posthumously. I wouldn't be shocked to see some 4/5 votes but I think he would have gotten those anyway.
 

MIA305

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This news has been absolutely devastating down here as I imagine it has been to anyone who follows this sport. Dan LeBatard's piece in The Miami Herald perfectly explained what Jose meant to this community. He was a joy to watch. People talked about him as if he were part of their extended family. The atmosphere in the stadium was different when he pitched. It became an event which is something Marlins games have not been in a while. I was lucky enough to be at his last start.

It did not hit me until I saw his number painted on the mound. It hit me again when I turned on the Spanish radio broadcast and heard Felo Ramirez, who always talked about Jose as if he were a son, fight back tears and say this is the saddest news he's ever received. To hear such horrific news from a childhood idol and living legend in that manner really brought it home. I still can't watch anything with him and his abuela. So sad. So tragic.

He was fishing last night. Probably left after the game and jumped on the boat in the Miami River. A friend saw him at American Social (restaurant) on the river close to 1:00am. We had two nasty thunderstorms between that time and when the boat was found. Where the boat was found (north side of the jetty) leads me to be believe they were on their way back into Government Cut. I would not be surprised if they were coming back during the storm and the low visibility played a factor in the crash. But that is speculation on my end and nothing that has been reported anywhere. The weather would explain why the boat wasn't found until the Coast Guard was on a routine patrol. On a clear night that location is full of people hanging out by the water. Had it happened on a clear night someone would have called 911.
 

GammonsSpecialPerson

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Lot of good years by NL pitchers this year, but does Fernandez get Cy Young votes? He was in the top handful anyways, but probably not up there with Scherzer or Hendricks or Lester.
He was on the outside-looking-in among candidates. In the first draft of this piece for .COM, he was among the names cited – if only to include one of the GIFs that appeared in this thread earlier. I wrote (and cut, after news broke): "He will probably get some 8th, 9th, or 10th place votes, if only to celebrate his recovery from TJ surgery and give hope that he'll be part of this race in years to come."

Fernandez will finish in the top five in strikeouts and K/9; his ERA and FIP also deserved consideration, but he was not going to lead MLB or the NL in either mark. He will get some votes as an posthumous honor, but he didn't "deserve" the award and wouldn't have been in the top 5 before this tragedy.
 

Van Everyman

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Honest question: was Fernandez the best pitcher in baseball? I was trying to tell my wife what he had in front of him for a career. I know this year was something of a return to who he was supposed to be before the Tommy John surgery. And I know he hasn't had a typical Cy Young-type season yet. But he had to have at least been among the Top 5 in the game, right?
 

soxfan121

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Honest question: was Fernandez the best pitcher in baseball? I was trying to tell my wife what he had in front of him for a career. I know this year was something of a return to who he was supposed to be before the Tommy John surgery. And I know he hasn't had a typical Cy Young-type season yet. But he had to have at least been among the Top 5 in the game, right?
Was he already top 5? No. That's not disrespect – he was one of the top 5 most exciting players to watch pitch, that's for damn sure. He was one of the five pitchers worth buying a ticket to see pitch. But he wasn't one of the top 5 pitchers in the NL, or MLB. That's more about the quality of competition than it is about JF's talent. Dude was wicked talented. He was fun to watch. He looked poised to be very, very good for a very, very long time.
 

BoSox Rule

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There might be 2 pitchers in the NL better than him, Kershsaw and MAYBE Scherzer. To say he wasn't even a top 5 pitcher in just the NL is ridiculous. He had almost 14 WAR after just turning 24 and was second to only Kershaw so far this year.
 

jon abbey

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Yeah, I think this settles it nicely:

Best FIP in Live-Ball era by starting pitchers (min. 400 IP)

Jose Fernandez - 2.43
Clayton Kershaw - 2.54
Sandy Koufax - 2.69
 

uncannymanny

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I understand there is not much in the way to assessing the qualifications of those given a license to drive a high speed boat in the evening.
Yeah, "not much" generally hovering around zero. We go to lake George every summer and rent a boat. The first time I'd never so much as steered a power boat, but hey swipe the card and get out there!

Last year we arrived late and were still waiting on our friends. The rental place ended up closing and telling us "just don't launch if it's too dark: see you on Tuesday" and left us there. We had to head out at dusk and it was probably the dumbest thing I've done that didn't turn out horrible.

40+ mph at night on the water is about as safe as going 110 on an empty highway. Seems fun until something unexpected happens.

I'm still in denial on this one.
 

Average Reds

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Heard about this yesterday morning around 9:30 am in the car. Didn't post in this thread yesterday for fear of not hitting the right note, tonality-wise.

This is the right note. Thank you.

Honest question: was Fernandez the best pitcher in baseball? I was trying to tell my wife what he had in front of him for a career. I know this year was something of a return to who he was supposed to be before the Tommy John surgery. And I know he hasn't had a typical Cy Young-type season yet. But he had to have at least been among the Top 5 in the game, right?
Fernandez was not the best pitcher in baseball because he was still working to perfect his command and (like most young pitchers) had not yet completed the transition from a "thrower" who gets by on talent and a pitcher who understands the nuances of the craft. But his stuff was as good as anything we've seen in a long time and my guess is that we're going to miss out on one of the all-time greats.

RIP Jose.
 

joe dokes

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Per Miami Herald

Late Sunday, authorities still had not confirmed the identities of the other passengers aboard the 32-foot SeaVee, named the Kaught Looking, but they were identified by WSVN, who talked to their families at the medical examiner’s office, as Eduardo Rivero and Emilio Macias. The Medical Examiner posted death notices for both men on its website with no ages or other identifying information except that both died at 3:15 a.m. Sunday.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miami-marlins/article104073926.html#storylink=cpy
 

Rovin Romine

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This is a little odd.

This is apparently a string of texts between one of the guys who died on the boat and his friend. the calming Jose down thing caught my attention. Whatever it was, he may have gone out on the boat to blow off some steam or calm down about something. Which in some ways (depending on whatever was provoking him) might have been a very good decision. Which'd make it more tragic.

 
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NortheasternPJ

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Just saw an update: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/new-details-emerge-in-jose-fernandezs-deadly-boating-accident-154439898.html

Full speed for that boat was 55-65 MPH.
Death was impact, not drowning.
Autopsy done - no results released, but still no indication of drugs or alcohol.
Still no names for the other two dead men?
That's really fast. They were apparently going full speed. Most insurance companies will only cover boats up to 50mph. Driving 55-65mph at night on the ocean on a boat that size is asking for a disaster, which is what happened here.
 

Rovin Romine

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I don't think we know actual speed, that's top theoretical speed for the boat. With, which a name like "Kaught Looking" sounds like he may have owned it.
I think they were estimating the speed during the accident as "near full speed" by the damage and the theoretical top speed for the boat. I don't know what it is, but there's a speed under which you're simply not going to flip the boat.

I forget where I saw it but Fernandez was the registered owner of the boat. The early reports say he wasn't driving at the time of the accident. I assume that's information that comes from the crash site itself.
 

rembrat

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Per Miami Herald

Late Sunday, authorities still had not confirmed the identities of the other passengers aboard the 32-foot SeaVee, named the Kaught Looking, but they were identified by WSVN, who talked to their families at the medical examiner’s office, as Eduardo Rivero and Emilio Macias. The Medical Examiner posted death notices for both men on its website with no ages or other identifying information except that both died at 3:15 a.m. Sunday.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miami-marlins/article104073926.html#storylink=cpy
They certainly look fast. I wonder which model was the Kaught Looking.

https://www.seaveeboats.com/