First of all, this feature on Jose Fernandez and his funeral brought me to tears. I may be biased as a semi-Marlins fan, but it was beautifully written and captured the entirety of Fernandez, as his teammates and the community knew him.
I found that this piece illustrated Clark’s tool 27: Reveal traits of character. For casual baseball fans or those unfamiliar with the Marlins, Fernandez’s death was shocking and sad. There have been countless clips and stories on his success on the mound and compassion for fans, and Miami in general. But in reality, Fernandez was a bit of a polarizing character. He was involved in multiple altercations with teammates and opponents, and often butted heads with Marlins’ management.
S.L. Price did not shy away from this aspect of the pitcher. Instead, he focused on it and qualified it in the most respectful and honorable way. Fernandez was immature, and thought himself to be invincible. But Price never wrote that. He used a quote in which a teammate called Fernandez a kid in a man’s body and his nickname in Miami, Joselito, to show that he was viewed as garishly charming and mischievous son of the community. Instead of saying, “Jose was showy and boisterous, but you should still like him,” he showed it by talking to the Marlins, each of whom expressed their frequent frustration or worry with Fernandez, and absolute devastation at his loss.
This made the piece much more genuine. Despite his showboating or questionable decisions, one cannot help but feel connected and drawn to Fernandez, who lived his life so intensely. I think this story is a great illustration of conveying a character trait through showing, not telling.