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bobthewondercat77
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I was already impressed by his stuff and approach. His rookie season has been excellent and I feel he deserves ROY over Puig.
I didn't know anything about his life though. Listening to a few recent interviews it is clear that he is a smart kid, with a good head on his shoulders. He has been through terrible tribulations, including multiple incarcerations for attempted defecting, jail stints as a 15-year-old that were served with adult hardened criminals. Overwhelming experience for any young person and he seems to have handled it with grace. His English is excellent (oh that's right, Cuban schools are often far better than American public school systems at this point) and he clearly feels that demonstrating gratitude for his success is important. He is very close with his Mom, the only family member that defected with him.
Conclusions:
1. The process of defecting from Cuba to USA is very dangerous and tests you to your core. It's awful that Cuba restricts their free movement. It's also awful that the US Coast Guard etc restricts their ability to get to freedom. Similar dynamics exist on the US-Mexico border and it is dangerous and incredible what people go through to get into the USA. Most immigrants obviously don't have a lure of a possible multi-million dollar baseball contract awaiting them on the other side either.
2. Jose Fernandez is smart, seems respectful, and is a badass dude. I am now a JoFer !Fan!
I didn't know anything about his life though. Listening to a few recent interviews it is clear that he is a smart kid, with a good head on his shoulders. He has been through terrible tribulations, including multiple incarcerations for attempted defecting, jail stints as a 15-year-old that were served with adult hardened criminals. Overwhelming experience for any young person and he seems to have handled it with grace. His English is excellent (oh that's right, Cuban schools are often far better than American public school systems at this point) and he clearly feels that demonstrating gratitude for his success is important. He is very close with his Mom, the only family member that defected with him.
Conclusions:
1. The process of defecting from Cuba to USA is very dangerous and tests you to your core. It's awful that Cuba restricts their free movement. It's also awful that the US Coast Guard etc restricts their ability to get to freedom. Similar dynamics exist on the US-Mexico border and it is dangerous and incredible what people go through to get into the USA. Most immigrants obviously don't have a lure of a possible multi-million dollar baseball contract awaiting them on the other side either.
2. Jose Fernandez is smart, seems respectful, and is a badass dude. I am now a JoFer !Fan!
