Yasiel Puig couldn’t maintain his composure. His faint smile disappeared. His eyes turned red, his nostrils flared. Soon, tears were cascading down his face.
Puig lost a friend Sunday. Jose Fernandez was dead. The 24-year-old All-Star pitcher of the Miami Marlins was killed in a boating accident early in the morning.
You listened to Puig, you studied his body language, and you wondered how this would affect him.
Puig already knew of the fragility of his existence. Puig had risked everything to escape Cuba and come to the United States, as had Fernandez.