José Fernández honored in heart-wrenching walk-off home run

Dee Gordon stands in front of a tribute to José Fernández.
(Image credit: Joe Skipper/Getty Images)

Monday night saw the first Miami Marlins game since the team's star pitcher, José Fernández, 24, was killed Sunday morning in a boat crash in Miami Beach, Florida. With the entire team wearing Fernández's jersey number in tribute to their teammate, leadoff batter Dee Gordon stepped up to the plate against the New York Mets.

Gordon's first swing was right-handed, mimicking the way Fernández hit at the plate. Then Gordon switched over to his natural left hand to take the second pitch — and hit his first homerun of all of his 323 plate appearances this year:

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.