Jose Fernandez was planning to head out on his boat with a couple of friends Saturday night and asked his closest friend on the Marlins, Marcell Ozuna, to come along.
Ozuna declined, and it might have saved his life. Fernandez, Emilio Jesus Macias and Eduardo Rivero were killed when the boat crashed into a jetty in the darkness off Miami Beach.
“That night I told him, ‘Don’t go out,’” Ozuna said Monday night, via the Miami Herald. “Everybody knew he was crazy about that boat and loved being out on the water. I told him I couldn’t go out that night because I had the kids and my wife waiting for me.
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“He told me if I didn’t hear from him by 10 a.m. [Sunday morning] to call him and wake him up so he could get back to the ballpark on time for the game. I told him, 'Yeah, no problem, I’ll call you.’ I woke up Sunday and that’s when I found out. I cried and cried."
Sunday afternoon's game against the Atlanta Braves was canceled after Fernandez's death. The Marlins returned to the field Monday for an emotional 7-3 win over the New York Mets, with each Miami player and coach wearing Fernandez's No. 16 jersey in a game he was scheduled to start.
