Why Are the Florida Marlins Honoring Jose Fernandez?

[Sea Ray]

I noticed that the Florida Marlins are going to wear the number 16 on their uniforms this year to honor former teammate Jose Fernandez.

The baseball world was rocked late last September when, with the regular season wrapping up, Fernandez and two friends were killed in a boating accident off Miami Beach.

The loss of the two-time All-Star and former NL Rookie of the Year will certainly be felt on the field, but it’s the times he shared with his teammates off the field that will impact the Marlins most.

To honor his memory, Miami will wear a No. 16 patch on their jerseys this season.

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2017/02/14/marlins-to-wear-no-16-patches-to-honor-jose-fernandez/


Problem is that this wasn't some random accident of God. It occurred because Fernandez was high on alcohol and cocaine. In fact if he'd lived he'd likely be in jail facing manslaughter charges

The report released by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Thursday determined that Fernandez had the vessel’s speed up to 65.7 mph at the time of the collision. The unsafe operation of the boat coupled with the fact his blood alcohol content was .147 and he had trace amounts of cocaine in his system – lab results released by the Miami-Dade County coroner previously – would have resulted in boating under the influence-manslaughter, vessel homicide and five other charges had he survived.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/03/16/jose-fernandez-boat-crash-marlins/99246236/

So why are the Marlins honoring a guy whose actions killed people including himself? If he'd survived they wouldn't be doing this. He'd be the poster child for drugs and alcohol.

 

[VRAMdemon]

WTF!...because the people of south Florida liked what he did for the community. I am down here and the people loved him...get over it!

 

[Homerboy]

I loved JoFer. Was bummed when he died.
Then months later it came out he was high and drunk and killed two other people.
Great pitcher. Seemed liked a generally good kid. Made horrible choices that killed him and 2 other people. Severely tarnished image.
I

 

[Sea Ray]

WTF!...because the people of south Florida liked what he did for the community. I am down here and the people loved him...get over it!

Killing people is good for the community? Really? This is not a guy to honor. Get over your man crush for this guy. He's not honorable in the least

 

[fskimospy]

Killing people is good for the community? Really? This is not a guy to honor. Get over your man crush for this guy. He's not honorable in the least

It seems like he was their friend who died, but I agree that making a big statement honoring him is in bad taste considering he killed two other people along with himself by boating while drunk.

 

[Sea Ray]

Even if he was alone in the boat, it's nuts to honor him for killing himself in such a foolish manner. If this was you or me we'd be demonized and in jail. Just because he was a talented pitcher folks are willing to overlook this "mistake" and honor him.

What exactly is he being honored for? I'm not getting it. We don't wear numbers on our uniforms to honor every good teammate. The only reason he's being honored is because he killed himself through drugs and alcohol. Seems like a horrible message to send

 

[VRAMdemon]

Do you really think they are honoring him for what happened in the last 3 or 4 hours of his life?

 

[Sea Ray]

Do you really think they are honoring him for what happened in the last 3 or 4 hours of his life?

I am saying that if those 3 or 4 hours didn't happen they wouldn't be honoring him. Do you deny that?

 

[zinfamous]

I'm quite satisfied that this angers you so much, OP.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Do you really think they are honoring him for what happened in the last 3 or 4 hours of his life?

Many people's lives are defined, and memorialized by much less shorter amounts of time. I don't see how he should be any different.

His foolish behavior got himself and others killed. You don't honor someone like that, you point them out to your children as someone to not follow, or you'll end up just like them.

 

[Homerboy]

Many people's lives are defined, and memorialized by much less shorter amounts of time. I don't see how he should be any different.

His foolish behavior got himself and others killed. You don't honor someone like that, you point them out to your children as someone to not follow, or you'll end up just like them.

Interestingly I do just that with my son.
He is a HUGE baseball fan and/or player and was pretty bummed with JoFer's death.
Now that the truth has come out, I use him as an example of somebody that my son wishes he had the talent of, but somebody that made REALLY bad choices and threw it all away. Not only killing himself and 2 others, but affecting an entire city and an entire team AND his immediate family. A perfect example of what NOT to do and that your actions directly affect everyone around you.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Interestingly I do just that with my son.
He is a HUGE baseball fan and/or player and was pretty bummed with JoFer's death.
Now that the truth has come out, I use him as an example of somebody that my son wishes he had the talent of, but somebody that made REALLY bad choices and threw it all away. Not only killing himself and 2 others, but affecting an entire city and an entire team AND his immediate family. A perfect example of what NOT to do and that your actions directly affect everyone around you.

Exactly, and it gives the kid an opportunity to see that being great at something isn't enough. By this point we really should be past accepting superstars that are absolutely caustic human beings outside their specific lane of activity.

 

[Sea Ray]

I'm quite satisfied that this angers you so much, OP.

So for you it's personal. Some of us can debate issues and keep the personal stuff out of it. Apparently you aren't one of those. My experience is that the ones who make it personal do so out of frustration that they can't come up with a coherent argument.

 

[zinfamous]

So for you it's personal. Some of us can debate issues and keep the personal stuff out of it. Apparently you aren't one of those. My experience is that the ones who make it personal do so out of frustration that they can't come up with a coherent argument.

eh? it seems that this is very much personal to you. What a bizarre topic to post about, in an angry fashion. For me, I give two shits. I commented as I did because at least this meaningless event keeps you distracted from making other stupid posts.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Many people's lives are defined, and memorialized by much less shorter amounts of time. I don't see how he should be any different.

His foolish behavior got himself and others killed. You don't honor someone like that, you point them out to your children as someone to not follow, or you'll end up just like them.

Exactly. He should be an object lesson of what not to do, not a freaking hero for killing people while operating a vehicle drunk and high. Somehow being on a boat has changed the optics of the situation. If he killed himself and two other people driving while drunk and high he'd be the villain, but since it was a boat it's a tragic accident. It's total horse shit.

 

[Sea Ray]

eh? it seems that this is very much personal to you. What a bizarre topic to post about, in an angry fashion. For me, I give two shits. I commented as I did because at least this meaningless event keeps you distracted from making other stupid posts.

If you could give two shits then why comment at all? I could give 2 shits that folks like yourself live in some kind of alternate reality that Trump colluded with Russia but I don't comment on such threads. If that gives you your jollies then have at it.

 

[MikeMike]

Because a lot of people can look past a person's life issues and realize that outside of their own demons, they helped and enriched the lives of almost everyone around them.

 

[zinfamous]

If you could give two shits then why comment at all? I could give 2 shits that folks like yourself live in some kind of alternate reality that Trump colluded with Russia but I don't comment on such threads. If that gives you your jollies then have at it.

why've you got to bring Trump into this? This silly topic is supposed to keep you distracted from your rose-colored alternate fantasies involving your beloved Dear Leader.

 

[Sea Ray]

Because a lot of people can look past a person's life issues and realize that outside of their own demons, they helped and enriched the lives of almost everyone around them.

If he's being honored for helping others then why weren't they wearing his number before he killed 3 people including himself?

 

[MikeMike]

If he's being honored for helping others then why weren't they wearing his number before he killed 3 people including himself?

Wait... what?

Because he was wearing his number and representing his number on the field of play.

 

[Sea Ray]

Because he was wearing his number and representing his number on the field of play.

He was doing that before he went boating that day. What changed? If he'd stayed sober and not killed anybody that night they wouldn't be honoring him today.

That doesn't seem right to me.

 

[mxnerd]

You should have asked why people around the world still see Michael Jackson & Whitney Houston as their models.

Will fans then follow their models' drug addiction behaviors? I don't think so. Everyone knows it's bad.

Their great achievement just overshadowed the other side, however.

Although I dislike people who uses drugs, but no one is perfect.

 

[MikeMike]

He was doing that before he went boating that day. What changed? If he'd stayed sober and not killed anybody that night they wouldn't be honoring him today.

That doesn't seem right to me.

But he did. So now people are celebrating the life he had and how he impacted others before he made a terrible decision.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

...they helped and enriched the lives of almost everyone around them.

Except for the ones they killed.

 

[MikeMike]

Except for the ones they killed.

Was it ever proven that he was driving?

Also, weren't the others in the boat also partaking?