"It doesn't feel real," Ryan Braun said. "It's impossible to process the fact that he's actually gone."
Braun played college ball at Miami and grew to love the Cuban American community there, which Fernandez joined in 2013, when his oversized personality and electric right arm made it to the Majors. Brewers manager Craig Counsell, who played parts of three seasons in Miami and won a World Series there in 1997, had the same experience.
Fernandez epitomized joy, Counsell said.
"I think that's what makes this so sad today, is that he reminds you of the joy of what the game can bring you," Counsell said.