Marlins P Jose Fernandez has Died

[Philsmania]

This is just a sad event, a young guy who had gone through a great deal and his life lost pointlessly. There have been many deaths of athletes, but not many like this were a future superstar was lost, and this kid was well on his way to superstar status.

I'm having a hard time remembering one who was cut down just as he began to blossom into superstar status, at least in baseball. There is, of course, Roberto Clemente who was an established superstar still going strong at age 37. Fernandez's tragic and untimely death is, in my opinion, baseball's most significant tragedy since Clemente's sudden death though Yankee fans might say since Thurman Munson. I suppose in Philadelphia we could reference Pelle Lindberg who was the only goalie not beaten by the Miracle on Ice team in Lake Placid in 1980 and was coming off a Vezina Trophy season when he died and Jerome Brown who was coming off back-to-back seasons as an NFL First Team All-Pro and Pro-Bowler and clearly one of the best defensive linemen of his time. Both may well have been HOFers in their respective sports had they not been cut down too soon...and, in the case of Lindberg, cut down because of his own DUI foolishness. Like Fernandez, both are great "what ifs".

[bkeich]

I think Jerome Brown is a pretty good analogy as he was almost certainly headed to the HOF barring injury. Sadly his young nephew also died in the 1 car accident.

Len Bias comes to mind also

Even when the death is from some stupid activity it is still sad. I did stupid things in my teen and early 20s at times also, luckily I lacked the funds to do something really stupid (and had a little bit of sense).

[California_Dreamin]

Actually the Phillies [verrrrrrry early Phillies] had two top players die at the peak of their prowess. The first great Phillie pitcher, a guy named Charlie Ferguson, died at 25 years of age in 1888 after 3-4 seasons of 30+ win a year seasons.

And a guy who joined the Phils in 1888, a Hall of Famer named Ed Delanhanty, supposedly fell off of a bridge in the early 1900's and died prematurely. He was a Phillie for all but a few seasons of his career and was actually playing for Washington when he died.

Ferguson was a good analogy to Fernandez, both died in their mid 20's and had future Hall of Famer potential going forward.

[VoteForKalas]

Flyers lost Pelle Lindbergh in a car crash, many believe he was the stud goalie that would have finally gotten us over the hump to winning another Cup. He was a spectacular goalie.

[Philsmania]

Flyers lost Pelle Lindbergh in a car crash, many believe he was the stud goalie that would have finally gotten us over the hump to winning another Cup. He was a spectacular goalie.

Lindberg was killed early in the '85-'86 season after the Flyers had gone to the Cup finals the season before. The season after the season involving the Lindberg tragedy, Hextall came along and won the Vezina Trophy as a rookie. He supplanted Bob Froese who was Lindberg's backup and a good starting goalie in his own right and nearly won the Vezina himself when he became the starter after Lindberg died. I often wonder how the Flyers would have resolved the Lindberg-Hextall dilemna.

[VoteForKalas]

IMO having seen both up close (had season tix those years), Lindbergh was better. If he was still alive, Hextall may have not been selected by the Flyers.

[Lucky_Beagle]

reports are saying toxology reports are showing he had a BAC above the legal limit and cocaine in his blood stream, however not sure they are saying he was the driver even though he owned the boat.

sorry no link I don't remember how to do the short link

pennlive.com/nation-world/20 ... river_home

[donaldorc]

This is really sad news. I hate to admit it, but my very first thoughts when I heard about this, were that there was probably some substance abuse involved. It is way too often the lifestyle of too many elite athletes. They think they are indestructible, and have lots of money and too many temptations.

[Lawman]

This is really sad news. I hate to admit it, but my very first thoughts when I heard about this, were that there was probably some substance abuse involved. It is way too often the lifestyle of too many elite athletes. They think they are indestructible, and have lots of money and too many temptations.

Me too. I'm hearing young athletes, boating in middle of the night, and crash I'm thinking drugs or alcohol.

[donaldorc]

This is really sad news. I hate to admit it, but my very first thoughts when I heard about this, were that there was probably some substance abuse involved. It is way too often the lifestyle of too many elite athletes. They think they are indestructible, and have lots of money and too many temptations.

Me too. I'm hearing young athletes, boating in middle of the night, and crash I'm thinking drugs or alcohol.

Glad I wasn't the only one. I really didn't want to jump to conclusions, but it did enter my mind.

[DurhamBull]

This is really sad news. I hate to admit it, but my very first thoughts when I heard about this, were that there was probably some substance abuse involved. It is way too often the lifestyle of too many elite athletes. They think they are indestructible, and have lots of money and too many temptations.

Me too. I'm hearing young athletes, boating in middle of the night, and crash I'm thinking drugs or alcohol.
Glad I wasn't the only one. I really didn't want to jump to conclusions, but it did enter my mind.

Me three. "They think they are indestructible, and have lots of money and too many temptations" is about as concisely as it can be stated. I'm surprised more young athletes don't come to destructive ends.

[Philsmania]

I hate to hear about this too, especially the cocaine part. I also hate to say it--and I don't want to diminish how sad and tragic the whole thing is--but you can't help but wonder that if he was messing around with cocaine, whether he ultimately would have been derailed off the track to all-time greatness like Dwight Gooden.

[zambonir]

One can never know. As with alcohol, some people are able to use drugs - even the harder stuff - recreationally and some cannot.