José Fernández's Best and His Last

Fernández's best outing, the most painful droughts in baseball history, and more. [View this email in your browser] José Fernández's Greatest and His Last Yesterday at The Hardball Times, Evan Davis wrote about [José Fernández's best game]—which was also, as it turns out, his last game. Today, the newsletter asks him a few questions. - You mention that you watched this game live. While there was obviously no way to know at the time how much emotional resonance it would end up having, at what point did you realize how great it was simply in terms of its baseball? Any [Fernández] start had the potential to be special. He was that good, and that ebullient about it between the white lines. That night, I think I really registered that he was locked in some time in the fifth inning. He got [Wilson Ramos] looking and [Brian Goodwin] swinging. The inning went 1-2-3 on only 13 pitches. Fernández had struck out seven by that point, walked nobody, and hadn't allowed a baserunner since the first inning. Even by his own lofty standards, this game was exciting. - Watching Fernández pitch was almost always special not just because of who he was as a baseball player, but who he was as a person—his joy, his excitement, his willingness to show all of that on the mound. Did you see this game as capturing both parts of him? Without question. It's why I included so many gif's of him hugging coaches, and waving to his family in the stands. There was one I didn't include, a pretty hilarious swing on a third strike in the dirt that he just kind of floats out there. He even had the gall to try and jump out of the way of the catcher's tag! He of course had a massive smile on his face doing it. It was just another day at the office for Fernández, which meant that his personality could not be contained, ever. We were all the luckier having seen it. - Broadly speaking, what will you miss most about the chance to watch Fernández? I don't think people have truly grasped just how good Fernández was. They saw the Tommy John surgery, the better-than-average-but-not-elite walk totals, the fluky line drives that dropped in for hits, and couldn't be fully convinced that he may have been an all-time great. But he was! If he hadn't gotten injured again, I have no doubt in my mind that he would have had a Hall-of-Fame career. Those are the baseball reasons for missing him; as a human being, there was nobody like him on the field. Bouncing from teammate to teammate, joking with [Freddie Freeman] about how he could never get Freeman out--all the stories we heard about or shared over the last few months is what made Fernández sui generis. One hopes that there will be more like him as the years pass. Baseball needed him desperately, and they need his spirit in the years to come. [FanGraphs produces over 400 articles each month, in addition to our ever-growing database of stats and graphs. Support our efforts today!] Throwback Thursday: ["Does Bill James Even Like to Watch Baseball?"] Hint: we're pretty sure he does. On this day in 2011, FanGraphs analyzed Bill James' projections for the upcoming season and the public reaction to them. (And he was pretty close on at least one of them—[Jon Lester] ended up with 15 wins, compared to the much-maligned projection of 14 discussed here.) [Subscribe to our Podcasts!] Catch up on past newsletters or pass along to a friend [here]. Data Visualization of the Day: [The Kings of Pain] It's not just about how long the drought lasts, but how bad the team is during the drought. John LaRue takes a look at the most painful stretches of all time on The Hardball Times today. Excerpt: ["Yasmani Grandal's Lone MVP Vote and Voting's Future"] by Travis Sawchik "When voting totals were finally released, it turned out I was the only writer to grant Grandal a [place on a ballot]. I ranked him as the seventh-most valuable player in the NL. It’s an interesting feeling to stand out there all alone. I’m the reason Grandal will be forever credited with a 22nd-place finish in the 2016 NL MVP race." [Forward] [Subscribe] Copyright © 2017 FanGraphs Inc, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the FanGraphs Newsletter. Our mailing address is: FanGraphs Inc 1200 N Hartford St. Apt 312 Arlington, Va 22201 [Add us to your address book] Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences] or [unsubscribe from this list]