10-year Marliniversary: Emotional lead-off home run sets tone in first game following Fernández's death

Throughout the years, many Major League Baseball players have played with heavy hearts following the death of loved ones or friends. Rarely, however, do entire clubs have to deal with the loss of a teammate.

That was the situation for the Miami Marlins on this day 10 years ago. One day after the tragic death of José Fernández, the Marlins took the field against the New York Mets. On an emotional night, Dee Strange-Gordon set the tone with an emotional lead-off home run in a 7-3 win for Miami.

With every member of the Marlins wearing Fernández’s initials "JDF" and his jersey No. 16 on their caps, Adam Conley was able to work a scoreless top of the first for Miami on Sept. 26, 2016. That set the stage for an emotional Strange-Gordon to lead off the bottom of the inning.

A left-handed bat wearing Fernández’s jersey for the evening, Strange-Gordon opened by mimicking Fernández’s batting stance while standing in the right-handed batter’s box. After taking the first pitch for a ball, the Miami second baseman moved back to the other side of the plate. In 155 team games that season, Strange-Gordon had not homered, but he took Bartolo Colón’s 2-0 pitch over the right-field wall for a lead-off home run.

Teary-eyed, Strange-Gordon rounded the bases as the Marlins went ahead to stay. It was the first of a season-high four hits for the evening for the Miami second baseman.

That would be the only run of the inning for Miami but the Fish continued to tack on over the next two innings. After Conley worked a 1-2-3 second, the Marlins scored four runs in the second.

Miami opened the bottom of the second with four straight hits. After J.T. Realmuto’s RBI infield single scored Giancarlo Stanton to make it 2-0, Justin Bour scored on an Adeiny Hechavarría ground-rule double. A sacrifice bunt from Conley plated the third run of the inning before Strange-Gordon drove in his second run in as many innings with an RBI single.

In the third, Bour’s RBI triple scored Christian Yelich, chased Colón and extended the lead to 6-0. Bour later scored on an RBI single from Hechavarría.

After three shutout innings from Conley and a 1-2-3 fourth from Mike Dunn, the Mets broke up the shutout in the fifth on Asdrúbal Cabrera’s two-run double. Lucas Duda capped the scoring for New York with an RBI single in the eighth.

In addition to Strange-Gordon’s four knocks, Bour was 3-for-3 for Miami. Hechavarría added two hits. Cabrera had two of the seven hits for the Mets.

Following the contest, the Marlins placed their hats on the mound to honor the memory of the late Fernández. It capped an emotional night that took place on this day a decade ago.

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