Millions of Americans watched Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in Monday's Presidential Debate, but I kept getting distracted by a baseball game in Miami.
You see while the two candidates debated what's wrong with the country and how to make America great again, what's right about the U.S. was on display in the game between the Marlins and Mets.
A little more than 24 hours after learning of the tragic boating death of their star pitcher Jose Fernandez, the Marlins courageously returned to the diamond to pay tribute to their fallen teammate. Every player on the team wore a black jersey with Fernandez's name and number 16 on it. The Mets hung a Fernandez jersey in their dugout and joined the Marlins on the field after an emotional pregame ceremony.
Fernandez was a comet; a once in a generation type of star that simply came and went too soon.
Vibrant, electric and full of life could describe his personality and his stuff on the mound. The 24-year-old always was seen with a smile on his face because he loved life, especially the one he had in this country.
Fernandez was the embodiment of the American Dream.
As a teenager, he was jailed in Cuba after trying to escape the country three times. He finally made it out on his fourth try at age 15. On the trip from Cuba to Mexico, Fernandez woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of someone falling overboard. Without knowing who it was, Fernandez jumped in to save the person, grabbing them and pulling them back to the boat only to find out it was his own mother.
Once the boat docked in Mexico, the bus carrying them to the border was stopped and robbed. They ended up walking across the U.S. border. The day was April 5, 2008.
It was far from an easy trip, but it was worth it. Free of communism and oppression under the wet foot, dry foot policy that allows Cubans to stay, Fernandez chased his dreams in high school in Tampa, learning English and excelling on the baseball field.
In 2013, with the help of the Marlins, he brought his grandmother Olga to the United States to join them. And then in 2015, nearly seven years to the day of his arrival, the now All-Star pitcher became a U.S. citizen.
Fernandez was photographed with a huge smile that day, waving a small American flag. He spoke about how thankful he was. The misery of his childhood made him appreciate the opportunity he had in America all the more.
Fernandez was most at home on the mound. The 14th overall pick in 2011, he got a $2 Million signing bonus from the Marlins. He needed just one year in the minors before he was elevated to the big leagues. He had a 100-MPH fastball and a curveball that was equal parts nasty and beautiful. When he toed the rubber, Fernandez believed he could do anything.
Which brings us back to the start of the game Monday night when Dee Gordon delivered the moment of the year in baseball. Gordon, a best friend of Fernandez and a left-handed hitter, led off by stepping into the batter's box right-handed and imitating Fernandez's batting stance as he took the first pitch from Bartolo Colon. Gordon then stepped out, moved to his natural left side of the plate and belted a 2-0 fastball into the second deck in right field for his first home run of the year. As he rounded the bases, tears welled up in his eyes, and by the time he reached home plate Gordon began to sob.
"I ain't never hit a ball that far, even in BP," an emotional Gordon said after the game. "I told the boys, 'if you don't believe in God, you better start.' For that to happen today, we had some help."
Maybe it was Fernandez lifting the Marlins up one final time. After all, his 29-2 record at Marlins Park was the best home record of any pitcher in baseball history.
And it was in that park Monday that the Marlins went on to beat the Mets 7-3 despite the unimaginable grief they must have felt.
As the Presidential Debate full of bombastic statements and jaded rhetoric came to an end Monday, players in Miami huddled one final time around the mound, Fernandez's mound, leaving their hats as a tribute to the Cuban refugee that made the most of his life in the U.S.
Remember that the next time Colin Kaepernick kneels during the national anthem, Trump talks about building a wall or Clinton speaks about our nation's racial division. The United States is not perfect; we have some problems. But we still have it a lot better than everybody else.
Fernandez knew that firsthand, and demonstrated the joys and opportunity of the freedom this country provides every day. It's just too bad he's no longer here to show us.
