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RIP Chico Fernandez (1932-2016)

G-Fafif Jun 12 2016 04:03 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jun 13 2016 01:49 PM

Chico Fernandez, who recorded the final Met assist in the Polo Grounds, has reportedly passed away.

Zvon Jun 12 2016 07:39 PM Re: RIP Chico Fernandez (1939-2016)

:(

Edgy MD Jun 13 2016 03:42 AM Re: RIP Chico Fernandez (1939-2016)

The first-ever Cubano Met. And still only one of 12. That's not insignificant for a team that would one day wear New York Cubans uniforms.

G-Fafif Jun 13 2016 02:20 PM Re: RIP Chico Fernandez (1932-2016)

Chico's date of passing is June 11, 2016. His date of birth is March 2, 1932. I'm not sure where I got 1939 from when originally sharing this news. He was 84. The cause of death was complications from the stroke. His impact on Tiger history is recalled in the Detroit Free Press. Humberto (Chico) Fernandez [was] the first regular starting Latino player for the Detroit Tigers. [...] The Cuban native was the starting shortstop for the Tigers from 1960 to the beginning of 1963 when he was traded to the New York Mets and replaced by Dick McAuliffe. McAuliffe died May 13. Fernandez began his major league career with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956 before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies where he became the first Latino to play for the Phillies. After three seasons in Philadelphia he was traded to Detroit following the 1959 season. He finished his career with the Mets in 1963. He talked to the Free Press last summer about his trailblazing career. “I am proud that I helped lay the foundation for the Latin players today. I can tell you that I went through some hell, but I just loved playing baseball,” said Fernandez who recalled that on his first road trip of the 1960 season, he was forced to eat in a kitchen while his teammates ate in the dining room of a restaurant. Fernandez may be best remembered for his steal of home plate during the pennant race of 1961 between the Tigers and New York Yankees in a July 4 doubleheader in front of 74,000 fans at Yankee Stadium. In the second game, down 3-2 in the top of the ninth with the bases loaded and two outs and Tiger slugger Rocky Colavito at the plate, Fernandez raced home and slid head first, beating the tag of catcher Johnny Blanchard to tie the score. The Tigers went on to win 4-3 in extra innings to retain first place with a one-game lead over New York, which eventually ran away with the pennant in September. “I said to the reporters after the game that if I had been out I would have been sent to the minors,” Fernandez told the Free Press last year. “Rollie Sheldon was a left-handed rookie pitcher who never saw me with his delivery, and nobody thought I would steal under those circumstances with Colavito at the plate. I actually had to slow down because I thought Rocky might swing and hit me in the head. ” The following year, Fernandez had his best season with the Tigers when he hit 20 home runs with 59 RBIs and a .249 average. Upon learning of Fernandez’s passing, Jake Wood, the first starting black player for the Tigers to come through Detroit’s minor league system and who held down the middle infield with Fernandez, said: “I’m a little leery of answering calls from Detroit now. First Dick McAuliffe, and now Chico. It’s tough losing your teammates. Being a minority, Chico was very helpful to me when I was first called up. I had the good fortune of speaking with him briefly on the phone last year as I had not spoken to him in a long time.” “It really hits you hard when you lose a guy like Chico," Colavito said. "He did a great job for us and he was a good teammate. "I spoke with him last summer for the first time since 1963 and we had a nice conversation about our days in Detroit and how much we appreciated each other. Losing Dick McAuliffe and then Chico is not easy to take.” After baseball, Fernandez returned to Detroit where he sold insurance. Before retiring to Florida in the mid-1980s, he was a popular fixture in the Detroit Latino community. He served on the Board of Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development and supported the development of youth programs. His significance in Mets history, besides being their first Cuban-born player and handling their last defensive chance in the Polo Grounds, also includes his membership in the One Met Homer Club, population currently 78. He hit his lone Met homer in that way midseason acquisitions will, five days after he joined the team, thus giving you hope that this guy we just got is gonna help turn us around. It came in a rather characteristic Mets game. They'd been down, 6-1, going to the sixth at San Francisco. Here came the Mets: Ron Hunt led off against Billy O'Dell with a homer; Jim Hickman reached on a two-out walk and moved to second on a wild pitch; Cliff Cook singled him in; and Chico stepped up and drove a two-run homer outta Candlestick. Suddenly it's 6-5, we're back in this thing, Let's Go Mets! There was no more scoring. The Mets lost, 6-5, either having had their momentum sapped by a rally-halting home run or they remembered they were playing a much better team. Tracy Stallard and Larry Bearnarth held the fort after Jay Hook departed, but the Mets only had one uproarious inning in them. Facing reliever Gaylord Perry, Cook -- who had homered in the fifth -- and Fernandez, our heroes from the sixth, left Hickman on second in the eighth. Perry chalked up his second major league save (unofficial stat, at the time). His first came a dozen days earlier versus the Mets when he mopped up for three innings in a 17-4 Giants win at the Polo Grounds. Alvin Dark removed Digger O'Dell with a ten-run lead after six. So this was progress. The Chico Fernandez effect, you might say. Certainly if I'd been following the Mets in 1963, that would have been my angle. (Of the first 16 members in the One Met Homer Club, Chico is the only slugger to have chosen the road for his chance to go deep. Everybody else between 1962 and 1975 dinged to the home crowd delight. The next to homer on the road and never again as a Met? Leo Foster, at Wrigley Field in 1976.)

Benjamin Grimm Jun 13 2016 02:27 PM Re: RIP Chico Fernandez (1932-2016)

At the time of his passing, Chico was the 12th oldest living Met, at 84 years, 101 days. The Oldest Living Mets Players As of June 11, 2016 Hillman, Darius Dutton (Dave) September 14, 1927 88 years, 271 days Thomas, Frank Joseph (Frank) June 11, 1929 87 years, 0 days Pignatano, Joseph Benjamin (Joe) August 4, 1929 86 years, 311 days Piersall, James Anthony (Jimmy) November 14, 1929 86 years, 209 days Craig, Roger Lee (Roger) February 17, 1930 86 years, 114 days Landrith, Hobart Neal (Hobie) March 16, 1930 86 years, 87 days Lary, Frank Strong (Frank) April 10, 1930 86 years, 62 days Friend, Robert Bartmess (Bob) November 24, 1930 85 years, 199 days Mays, Willie May 6, 1931 85 years, 36 days Marshall, Rufus James (Jim) May 25, 1931 85 years, 17 days Sherry, Norman Burt (Norm) July 16, 1931 84 years, 331 days Fernandez, Humberto (Chico) March 2, 1932 84 years, 101 days Bressoud, Edward Francis (Ed) May 2, 1932 84 years, 40 days Taylor, Samuel Douglas (Sammy) February 27, 1933 83 years, 104 days Altman, George Lee (George) March 20, 1933 83 years, 83 days Hicks, William Joseph (Joe) April 7, 1933 83 years, 65 days Charles, Edwin Douglas (Ed) April 29, 1933 83 years, 43 days Green, Elijah Jerry (Pumpsie) October 27, 1933 82 years, 227 days Hunter, Willard Mitchell (Willard) March 8, 1934 82 years, 95 days MacKenzie, Kenneth Purvis (Ken) March 10, 1934 82 years, 93 days

G-Fafif Jun 13 2016 08:31 PM Re: RIP Chico Fernandez (1932-2016)

Extended Chico Fernandez meditation embedded within lengthy piece about a game I heard some of and saw none of. Thanks to Zvon for his unwitting graphic contribution.

Edgy MD Jun 13 2016 11:24 PM Re: RIP Chico Fernandez (1932-2016)

Great memories.