The Miami Marlins Were Inspiring in Honoring Jose Fernandez

In the midst of an awful debate between Hillary Clinton & Donald Trump, I found inspiration in the Miami Marlins.

Of course, the Marlins are in mourning following the sudden death of their top starting pitcher Jose Fernandez which resulted in the cancellation of yesterday's game against the Atlanta Braves.

Fernandez had been scheduled to start tonight's game against the New York Mets. Dee Gordon put Fernandez's spikes, cap & glove on the mound before the game. All the Marlins wore Fernandez's number 16 jersey and it seemed to give them inspiration.

Gordon began the game by hitting on the right hand side of the plate and impersonated Fernandez's batting stance. He then returned to the left hand side of the plate and on the next pitch crushed the first home run of the year. Gordon would later say that he had never hit a ball that far. "If I don't believe in God, I'd better start now," Gordon would say after the game which the Marlins won 7-3.
Indeed, the slow footed Justin Bour hit his first triple. Not just in the majors, but at any level. Gordon added, "We had some help out there."

Following the game, the Marlins circled the mound and Giancarlo Stanton led the team in prayer. Christian Yelich suggested that the team leave their caps on the mound.

There's little doubt that the Marlins are playing on sheer adrenaline. One of two things will happen. The Marlins will go on a crazy run and end up with a NL Wild Card berth. But it is far more likely that with a funeral still to come that the Marlins will crash and burn with the enormity of Fernandez's death truly hitting them. But if the latter happens, look out for this team next year. I say this because the Marlins suddenly had to grow up very, very fast. It will be a difficult passage, but everything happens for a reason even if the reason isn't a good one.

But for the moment, I found that the Miami Marlins exhibited a kind of maturity that was sorely lacking on the debate stage tonight.