Sadly, the brightest lights are often the ones that extinguish the fastest.

Jose D. Fernandez was a Cuban-born American baseball player, who started his professional career with the Miami Marlins on April 2013. Sadly, Fernandez, at the age of 24, died in a boating accident at the Miami Harbor on the 25th of September.

To an average observer, he may just be another Major Leaguer that appears on the news and social media. However, he was more than average. Fernandez was a defector from Cuba, who was caught 3 times and was sent to jail, to get into the United States to play baseball.

Fernandez, along with his mother and sister, successfully defected in 2007. On that successful attempt, his mother fell overboard when the boat hit turbulent waters, and he had to dive into the water to save her life.

Harold Albert, one of our passionate baseball fans at ISB, commented “Not only was he a great pitcher, his infectious smile and spirit added a great deal to every game in which he participated. His passing is a real tragedy and he will be missed a great deal by his family, friends, teammates and baseball in general.”

The magnanimity of Fernandez’s personality transcends culture, religion and race. His story is a story well told. Jose will be one of the few that will be mentioned when one talks about a personality that could outshine his or her talent, when normally it is the other way around. In this case, his love for the family, game and being Jose.

He had many fans, not just in Miami, but also across the United States and his homeland, Cuba. He was a model for all people, but especially Cuban-Americans who needed to work harder than most to achieve freedom. He represented freedom in a way only few will understand, because most of us are born around freedom.

He truly showed what it meant to fight for freedom, fight for what you believe in and what is right. No matter what the obstacles are, whether they are political, social or athletic, he was able to leap over every obstacle.

Alex Choi