Tony Fernandez Wiki – Biography
Tony Fernandez Octavio Antonio Fernández Castro, better known as Tony Fernández, was a Dominican baseball shortstop who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball for seven teams, most notably the Toronto Blue Jays.
Tony Fernandez Age
He was 57 years old.
Early Life and Career
Fernández was born in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic, of Haitian descent. He was first scouted by the Toronto Blue Jays’ Latin America scout Epy Guerrero and was signed as an undrafted free agent in 1979.
Promoted to the Blue Jays in 1983, Fernández became the team’s full-time shortstop in 1985, and contributed significantly to the team winning its first division title that year. Fernández continued to star for the Jays for several years afterwards. His 213 hits in 1986 were, at the time, a major league single-season record for a shortstop (the record has since been surpassed).
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Before the 1991 season, Fernández was traded to the San Diego Padres in a deal that also sent Jays star Fred McGriff to San Diego in exchange for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter. Fernández played for San Diego for two years. After the 1992 season, the Padres traded him to the New York Mets for D. J.
Dozier, Wally Whitehurst, and a player to be named later. After a disappointing start to the 1993 season, the Mets traded him back to the Blue Jays for Darrin Jackson. He played well for the remainder of the season and was instrumental in helping the Blue Jays win the 1993 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. In that World Series, Fernández drove in nine runs, a record for a shortstop.
Before the 1995 season, Fernández signed a two-year contract with the New York Yankees. It was because of an injury early in the season to Fernández that Derek Jeter was called up to the major leagues for the first time. Fernández injured his elbow during spring training in 1996, and missed the entire season.
Cause of Death
Tony Fernández, 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.
Fernández 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 Fernández Foundation. Fernández had been in a medically induced coma and had waited years for a new kidneys.
Fernández 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. Fernández 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.