TORONTO — Tony Fernandez, a stylish shortstop who made five All-Star teams during his 17 seasons in the major leagues and helped the Toronto Blue Jays win the 1993 World Series, died Sunday after complications from a kidney disease. He was 57.
Fernandez was taken off a life support system in the afternoon with his family present at a hospital in Weston, Florida, said Imrad Hallim, the director and co-founder of the Tony Fernandez Foundation. Fernandez had been in a medically induced coma and had waited years for a new kidneys.
Fernandez won four straight Gold Gloves with the Blue Jays in the 1980s and holds club records for career hits and games played. A clutch hitter in five trips to the postseason, he had four separate stints with Toronto and played for six other teams.
One of those was the New York Yankees, who replaced him at shortstop with a 21-year-old Derek Jeter in 1996. Fernandez was slated to slide over to second base and stick around as insurance, but he broke his right elbow (for the second time in his career) lunging for a ball late in spring training and missed the entire season.
Jeter, of course, went on to win AL Rookie of the Year and the first of his five World Series titles. Fernandez, who had been set to help ease Jeter’s transition, was given a World Series ring by the Yankees that season.
The next year, Fernandez caught on at second with the Cleveland Indians and was instrumental in their 1997 American League pennant. He batted .357 in the AL Championship Series against Baltimore.
Fernandez then hit .471 with four RBI in the World Series against the Florida Marlins. His two-run single in the third inning of Game 7 put the Indians ahead 2-0, but the Marlins tied it in the bottom of the ninth and won 3-2 in 11 innings to take the championship.
In 43 career postseason games, Fernandez batted .327 with 23 RBI and a .787 OPS. He went 7 for 21 (.333) with nine RBI in the 1993 World Series, helping the Blue Jays beat Philadelphia in six games for their second consecutive title.
A wiry switch-hitter with speed, Fernandez made his major league debut with the Blue Jays at age 21 in September 1983. He also played for the San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers in a career that lasted through 2001.
He was a .288 hitter with 94 homers and 844 RBI in 2,158 big league games. He remains the last Yankees player to hit for the cycle in a home game, accomplishing the feat in 1995.
Fernandez finished with 2,276 hits, 1,057 runs, 414 doubles, 92 triples, 246 stolen bases and a .746 OPS. He struck out only 784 times in 8,793 plate appearances – never more than 74 times in a season.
ASTROS: With baseball ablaze over the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal, Commissioner Rob Manfred met with several managers and told them to knock off any notion of get-even beanballs.
“I hope that I made it extremely clear to them that retaliation in-game by throwing at a batter intentionally will not be tolerated, whether it’s Houston or anybody else,” Manfred said. “It’s dangerous and it is not helpful to the current situation.”
Cody Bellinger, Kris Bryant, Trevor Bauer and Carlos Correa were among the All-Stars recently trading threats, accusations and barbs as spring training opened. The revelation of Houston’s sign-stealing scam, the punishment imposed by Major League Baseball and poorly received apologies by the Astros further enhanced anger across the sport, with players, club management and fans all joining in.
“I think that the back and forth that’s gone on is not healthy,” Manfred said.
YANKEES: Free-agent pitcher Chad Bettis signed a minor league contract with the Yankees with an invitation to big league spring training.
The 30-year-old right-hander was 1-6 with one save and a 6.08 ERA in 39 games, including three starts, for Colorado last season. He went on the injured list Aug. 14 with a left hip impingement and didn’t pitch the rest of the year.
BREWERS: Left-hander Brent Suter reached a two-year, $2.5 million deal that avoids an arbitration hearing that had been set for next week.
Suter returned from Tommy John surgery last September and went 4-0 with a 0.49 ERA in nine relief appearances, helping the Brewers earn an NL wild-card spot.
CARDINALS: Pitcher Miles Mikolas was scratched from his second bullpen session of the spring because of a flexor tendon issue.
Mikolas said his arm felt “tender from time to time” last season, but he was able to manage it.
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