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Miami tragedy affects Hurdle, Bucs

By John Mehno

For the Mirror

PITTSBURGH – Sunday was a tough day for Clint Hurdle before a pitch was even thrown at PNC Park.

Like the rest of the Pirates, Hurdle learned that Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez had been killed in a boating accident on Saturday night. Fernandez, a 16-game winner for the Marlins this season and the ace of their staff, was just 24.

Hurdle recalled sitting with Fernandez at an awards banquet in New York a couple of years ago.

Hurdle recalled Fernandez’s “million dollar smile” and called him, “a tremendously engaging young man.”

“We had a lot of commentary that night,” Hurdle said. “Since then, wherever we played he’d come up, put his arm around me and say, ‘Hey, Papi, how you doing?'”

Like all major league teams, the Pirates observed a moment of silence in Fernandez’s memory before Sunday’s game. His picture was displayed on the scoreboard.

“It’s so sad on so many different levels,” Hurdle said. “There will be no more of that emotion, that skill set, that human being, that young man with such a gift and such a great smile.”

Some of the Pirates players used their Twitter accounts to remember Fernandez:

n Andrew McCutchen: “Jose Fernan-dez brought an intensity to this game that could naturally ignite and entire stadium.”

n Jameson Taillon: “Jose Fernandez was so uber-talented that when his highlights came on it stopped you in your tracks to watch his show.”

n Josh Harrison: “Tough day for our baseball family with the loss of Jose Fernandez. Praying for his family and friends.”

Coming back?

Sean Rodriguez is having a solid season for the Pirates, proving to be a valuable fill-in at a number of positions. Batting .264 with 18 home runs, 56 runs batted in and a .863 OPS in 280 at bats. He’s just a week away from free agency, and he will undoubtedly be targeted by a number of teams. Rodriguez will improve on the $2.5 million he’s earning this year, and probably get a multi-year contract. It’s unlikely he’ll get that from the Pirates, who seem to be grooming Adam Frazier for that utility role.

“We would love to have Sean remain in a Pirate uniform,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “Given what he’s done this year, we would fully anticipate there’s going to be quite a market out there for him. He’s done a remarkable job.”

No comment

The late-season run of injuries reached a new level Sunday when play-by-play announcer Greg Brown had to leave the park because of laryngitis.

Rob King from Root Sports was enlisted to take over the TV broadcast and arrived in the second inning.

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