In a loathsome act of thievery, someone stole the high school baseball jersey of late Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez during a tribute ceremony held at the late pitcher’s alma mater.
Wednesday night a candlelight vigil at Alonso Raven High School attracted 500 to 600 people gathered to mourn the tragic passing of their former pitching star. The number 16 jersey that he wore for the school’s varsity baseball team hung on a hanger in the dugout for all to view. According to Alonzo Raven’s head baseball coach Landy Faedo, after everyone had left the memorial he noticed the empty coat hanger hanging on the dugout fence.
“It boggles my mind that someone would do something like that, especially when we’re doing something nice for Jose and thinking about him and knowing that he’s not going to be with us anymore,” coach Faedo lamented.
Fernandez tragically lost his life in a boating accident on Sunday morning when he and two of his friends crashed into a Miami jetty traveling at a high speed. The Marlins drafted the right-handed power pitcher right out of high school as the 14th overall pick in the 2011 MLB draft. The Cuban immigrant became the first player in the school’s history to make it to Major League Baseball.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that Alonso High Principal Kenneth Hart doesn’t believe that a current student or alumni would steal the jersey. He has broadcast the incident on social media and to everyone in the school, asking that anyone with information or clues relating to who may have taken the jersey to please come forward.
“I would take money right out of my pocket to get it back,” Hart said. “It’s absolutely disgusting, the lowest of the low.”