Jose Fernandez may no longer be with us, but he will be forever remembered at the home of the Marlins.
Fernandez, who lost life as a result of a boating accident last year, was beloved not only in the Marlins clubhouse but around Miami as well. The Marlins are wearing a patch on their jersey this season in honor of the former pitcher and the team announced his No. 16 would be retired. He will soon have a statue in his likeness outside Marlins Park.
Team owner Jeffey Loria said the sculpture will be much larger than a life sized rendition and it should be ready in about six months.
“I went through hundreds and hundreds of photographs with the sculptor and gestures of Jose’s face to try and make it perfect,” Loria told ESPN. “No one else is going to get involved in a piece of sculpture other than me, right? I’ve spent 50 years in that world.”
“We’re going to cast it in bronze and paint the glove the red-orange that Jose would like, and that will be the only color on it,” he continued. “I don’t want to make it kitschy, but that was his favorite thing. Hopefully we’ll see it in six months or so. It’s a very long process to cast a sculpture that’s 9 or 10 feet high, as opposed to 6 feet.”
Fernandez spent all four years of his major league career with the Marlins. He won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2013 and was twice an All-Star.
