Fernandez Following the Script : Blue Jay Shorstop Is Latest Star From Dominican Republic

The story has been told before, and it will probably be told again.

It goes something like this: Boy grows up in the Dominican Republic with dreams of playing professional baseball. He spends countless hours on the sandlots, sometimes playing in bare feet, sometimes with a cardboard glove, in pursuit of his goal.

He idolizes those who have gone before him--players such as Juan Marichal and Manny Mota--and realizes that baseball is a way out of this poverty-stricken country.

Many followed the route of Marichal and Mota from the Dominican Republic to big league stardom. The list of current Dominican pros includes Pedro Guerrero, Mariano Duncan, Julio Franco, Mario Soto and Alfredo Griffin.

Tony Fernandez, shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays, is another who fits the script.

Fernandez grew up in San Pedro de Macoris with 10 brothers and sisters, his mother, and a father who worked in the sugar-cane fields. He played his share of games with a cardboard glove, and he often skipped dinner to play baseball.

He was good enough to be offered a professional contract and signed with the Blue Jays out of high school. Six years later, the 24-year old is an American League All-Star and is considered one of the best shortstops in baseball.

With the fruits of success, Fernandez is enjoying a standard of living that far exceeds his modest upbringing. But he isn’t buying all that stuff about players scratching and crawling to make their way out of the impoverished Dominican Republic.

“I wasn’t rich, but I wasn’t poor, either,” Fernandez said before Thursday night’s game against the Angels at Anaheim Stadium. “We had food to eat, clothes to put on, and a school to go to. What more can you expect when you’re a kid? A car? A plane?

“A lot of writers here say that we played so we could get out of poverty. They can write what they want, but there are poor people in the U.S., too. You can’t compare the countries, but everyone here isn’t rich.”

As a child, Fernandez didn’t need much more than food or clothing to be happy. As long as he had baseball and his family, he was fine.

He admired his parents for working so hard to support the family. Besides pro baseball, another of his goals was to show his parents that he would, some day, be able to support a family, too. Unfortunately, his father, Jose, was unable to see his son reach the major leagues.

Jose died in 1982, and Fernandez, then with Syracuse, the Blue Jays’ affiliate in the Triple-A International League, dedicated the season to his memory.

“There were times I’d cry like a baby on the field because of my father,” he said. “But I’m over that now.”

Fernandez was dealt another blow last February when his mother, Andrea, died.

“This year has been hard,” Fernandez said. “I’m a human being and I’m going to be hurt. But through the Lord, I’ve been able to overcome it.”

His parents would have been proud of the season Fernandez is having in this, his second full year in the major leagues. Heading into Thursday night’s game, the switch-hitter was batting .316 (from both sides of the plate) with four home runs and 36 RBIs. He ranked third in the league in hits with 118 and first in triples with six.

Fernandez was moved to the leadoff position in Toronto’s order June 8 and responded with nine straight multiple-hit games. Since then, he has hit .352 with three homers and 22 RBIs. He extended his hitting streak to 10 games Thursday night with a fifth-inning single.

Defensively, Fernandez has made just seven errors in 91 games after committing 30 errors in 1985. He was selected to play in Tuesday night’s All-Star game but only saw a half inning of action, replacing starter Cal Ripken in the bottom of the ninth.

“That was unfortunate,” said teammate Jesse Barfield. “What Tony did in the first half (of the season) warranted at least an at-bat. It’s gotta be a little disheartening for him, but it won’t be his last All-Star game.”

Fernandez wasn’t too disappointed. “I know they wanted to win, so they kept the starters in longer,” he said. “That was the reason I didn’t play much. But at least I got in. It was a lot of fun, meeting a lot of the stars of the game.”

Fernandez, a 6-foot 2-inch, 165-pounder who played his 255th consecutive game Thursday night, is one of the stars of the game. Barfield thinks he’s the best shortstop in the game--yes, even better than one Ozzie Smith of the St. Louis Cardinals.

“He makes the routine plays, but the thing that separates him from the rest is that he makes the plays you don’t have to make,” Barfield said. “He’s also consistent from both sides of the plate. His numbers speak for themselves.

“It’s almost unfair in a way, because he’s gonna get better.”