To commemorate what would have been Jose Fernandez's 25th birthday, his mother on Monday visited the site of his fatal boat crash last fall.
Maritza Gomez Fernandez, wearing a "Jose Day" T-shirt and baseball cap with an orange No. 16 on it, and other relatives brought flowers and candles to the Government Cut jetty off Miami Beach, where Fernandez crashed his boat Sept. 25, killing himself and two others.
"My beautiful boy, wherever you are today, we are all going to remember and miss you so much," she wrote, in Spanish, in a Facebook post that included photos of the gathering.
Maritza Fernandez had visited the site before. After Fernandez was cremated, the family spread his ashes on the rocks and into the ocean.
The late Marlins ace was on the mind of many others Monday, too.
Dee Gordon tweeted a photo of himself in a Fernandez jersey, with "16" shaved into the back of his head, with the caption: "Happy Birthday Doggy. I love and miss you bro."
Marcell Ozuna posted a similar tribute.
The Marlins, on their official social-media accounts, had a 31-second highlight reel of some of Fernandez's best moments _ striking batters out, hitting home runs and reacting excitedly to both.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission investigators determined that Fernandez, legally drunk and with cocaine in his system, was at fault for the crash, in which he was piloting his boat too fast in the middle of the night with little light.
