(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Tony Fernández Foundation Canada)
IN MEMORIAM
...Tony Fernández...
(1962 - 2020)...
(© Photo: Tony Fernández Foundation) |
   Tony Fernández, legendary short stop of Toronto Blue Jays, passed away
Nederlands
 DUNEDIN, Florida (USA) -
Tony Fernández, who developed into a legendary and popular player of Toronto Blue Jays, passed away on Saturday-evening (February 15) at age 57.
The Dominican infielder battled kidney problems since 2017.
Some two weeks ago, Fernández was hospitalized in Florida for the kidney desease and was placed in an induced coma.
On Saturday, he suffered a stroke from complications and passed away in the evening.
On February 1, it already was reported that he was in critical condition.
Octavio Antonio (Tony) Fernández Castro was born on June 30, 1962 in San Pedro de Macorís in the Dominican Republic.
There, he started playing baseball and was noticed by a scout from Toronto Blue Jays, who signed him in April 1979.
Tony Fernández was known for his great defensive skills and throwing batters out from across the diamond.
In his long career, he way of playing the short stop position inspired many.
The solid infielder played 17 seasons in the Major League, including twelve with Toronto.
There, he became a fan-favourite and also was very popular amongst his teammates and coaches.
Fernández also played for other clubs.
Tony Fernández, who was a switch-hitter, made his Major League-debut with Toronto Blue Jays during the 1983 season when he was 21 years old.
That was the start of four different periods he played for the Canadian club.
Fernández played for Toronto in 1983-1990, 1993, 1998-1999 and in 2001.
He is the club's record-holder in games played ((1,450), basehits (1,583) and triples (72).
Fernández became Toronto's full-time short stop in 1985 and then had an important contribution in the first-ever Division-title (AL East) for the Blue Jays.
In 1986, he set a then-record in a single season for short stops with 213 basehits.
While playing for Toronto, Fernández won four consecutive Gold Glove Awards (1986-1989).
After the 1990 season, Fernández was traded, with Fred McGriff, to San Diego Padres for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter.
In 1992, Alomar and Carter led the Blue Jays to the club's first World Series-title.
In 1991 and 1992, Fernández played for San Diego Padres, who traded him in October 1992 to New York Mets.
During the 1993 season (June 11), Fernández returned to Toronto after a trade with the Mets.
In 1993, Toronto Blue Jays won its second consecutive World Series.
Fernández contributed with his defensive skills and batted in nine runs, while Joe Carter ended the World Series with a walk-off homerun in Game 6 that gave Toronto the title against Philadelphia Phillies.
Carter became only the second player in history to end a World Series with a homerun.
The first was Bill Mazeroski in 1971 whose homerun ended Game 7 with Pittsburgh Pirates.
After the 1993 season, Tony Fernández became a Free Agent and signed with Cincinnati Reds for whom he played in 1994.
In the following years, he would become a Free Agent five more times.
The second time was after the 1994 season.
He then signed with New York Yankees for whom he played in 108 games in the 1995 season.
It was because of an injury in May 1995 that the Yankees re-called Derek Jeter to the Major League-team for the first time to fill in for Fernández.
Due to an elbow-injury, Fernández was sidelined the entire 1996 season and Jeter became the Yankees full-time short stop.
In November 1996, Fernández was a Free Agent for the third time.
A month later, he signed with Cleveland Indians, playing in 120 games for the team in 1997.
In October 1997, Fernández was a Free Agent again.
Some six weeks later, he returned to Toronto Blue Jays for the third time.
He had two fine seasons with the Canadian club, playing in 138 games in 1998 and in 142 in 1999.
In those seasons, he respectively batted .321 and .328 with a total of 15 homeruns and 147 runs batted in.
After completion of the 1999 season, Fernández again became a Free Agent.
He then went on play one season in Japan for Seibu Lions.
In February 2001, Fernández found a new Major League-club when he signed with Milwaukee Brewers.
That was to be a short stay.
After having played in 28 games for Milwaukee, he was released on May 29.
Nine days later, he signed with Toronto Blue Jays, which marked his fourth stay with the club.
Fernández played in 48 games for Toronto in what was to be his final season in the Major League.
In November 2001, he became a Free Agent for the sixth time, which ended his career.
In 17 Major League-seasons, Tony Fernández played in 2,158 games.
He collected 2,276 basehits, including 94 homeruns.
Fernández scored 1,057 runs, batted in 844 and finished with a career batting average of .288.
Throughout his career, the short stop played in five All Star Games (1986, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1999).
Late in the 2001 season, while he played for Toronto Blue Jays, Fernández was added to the club's Level of Excellence at Rogers Centre.
He was then the seventh recipient of this honour, which is equivalent to a Hall of Fame.
After he had retired as a player, Tony Fernández was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (2008) and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame (2016).
The Toronto Blue Jays issued the following statement on Sunday:
,,The Toronto Blue Jays are deeply saddened by the passing of Tony Fernandez, one of our club’s most celebrated and respected players.
Enshrined forever in Blue Jays history on the Level of Excellence, Tony left an equally indelible mark in the hearts of a generation of Blue Jays fans during his 12 unforgettable seasons with the team.
His impact on the baseball community in Toronto and across Canada is immeasurable.
Our deepest condolences are with the Fernandez family during this time''.
Via his Tony Fernandez Foundation Canada, Tony Fernández worked with underprivileged and troubled children by nurturing and developing them through counseling, education, training, physical and spiritual activities.
His vision was to fulfill his childhood dream to enrich the lives of less fortunate children.
On Sunday, former teammates praised Fernández as a 'kind and gentle man and a true professional'.
They also said 'Tony enjoyed being on a field to play baseball' and that 'he was one of the best short stops ever'.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News offers his condolences to the family, loved ones and friends of Tony Fernández and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(February 16)
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