Remember Jose Fernandez the person, not his stats

Well, the game has seen better weeks, and yet it consoles us in Dee Gordon and Aledmys Diaz and the routine that, given a chance, carries us an inch or two closer to something like peacefulness.

I keep thinking of Jose Fernandez’s girlfriend and the daughter she is carrying, and how one works up the spirit to laugh again when the person who would hold your hand forever is gone.

I keep seeing lists of Jose’s professional achievements. You know, the wins and the strikeouts and how he’d been so good the last time we saw him and how good he would’ve been. And I think, what are we doing? The man’s job was baseball player. The man himself was grandson, son, friend, example. The man himself was going to be a father, and there’s your real chance at greatness, lost. The man himself lifted a community, a nation. There’s a real chance at greatness. Maybe that comes sometimes with winning a baseball game, with fastballs in and sliders away, but were you really listening to his friends? To his teammates?

They wept for his spirit, for the man inside the uniform, for all the people who’d go on without him. For all the souls whose hands he would have held.

I’ve watched organizations wake up the next day and carry on. It is terrible. And, yet, that next day does come, and so does the one after that, and never once have I heard, “Shoot, we sure could have used Nick Adenhart in that game.” Never. What you get is, “Man, I miss that guy. He was a good man.” What you get, these years later, is, “I still can’t believe he’s gone.” What you get is, “I wonder what kind of a man he’d be today. I wonder who he’d be today. I’d bet he’d be great. I miss him so much.”

The only numbers today are 24, the years Jose Fernandez was here, and 27,000, the count of people who showed up Monday night to say goodbye, with one on the way.

He was a terrific pitcher, we know. We get it. The numbers are there for everyone to see. But that’s not who we mourn.

A WEEK BEHIND:

What’s gotten into the Red Sox? Six weeks ago, you could barely get through a day without reading how John Farrell should be fired, and that he should take pitching coach Carl Willis with him, and then whoever was left could start the rebuild for 2017. This is why the preferred method of judging a season might well be to wait until the end of September and then count up the wins and losses. Maybe everybody was so busy worrying about batting orders they forgot to let the season happen.

Anyway, these are the Red Sox of 20 wins in 26 games, of the best offense (by 107 runs) in the American League, of the best second-half pitching staff in the league, of a defense that will be as capable and athletic as any in the postseason outside the Chicago Cubs.

The team that finds itself atop the AL East and charging into the playoffs has three of the league’s five best September pitchers, they being Rick Porcello, David Price and Eduardo Rodriguez. And a bullpen with an 0.94 ERA in September. And David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez, even Chris Young, have spent September on their bat barrels, and if you prefer your MVP on a winner then Mookie Betts is probably your man.

Point being, October isn’t always about the best team, but the hottest team, and we’ll hear a thousand times how the team with the best regular-season record has won four World Series since 1990. The Red Sox won’t have the best record, and they are rolling downhill.

A WEEK AHEAD:

Welcome to the final four (Thursday through Sunday), assuming there are no ties, nothing too chaotic, no major collapses. Otherwise, it could be final five. Or six. They’ll get it sorted out. Remember, all Sunday games start just after 3 p.m. ET

Here are the series we’ll watch:

Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees: The Orioles are under .500 on the road, 2-5 at Yankee Stadium. They are likely to miss Masahiro Tanaka, whose turn is Saturday, but he is suffering from a forearm strain.

New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies: The Mets have won 10 of 16 against the Phillies, including three of four in New York last weekend, and line up Robert Gsellman, Bartolo Colon and, if necessary, Noah Syndergaard.

Toronto Blue Jays at Red Sox: The Blue Jays’ best scenario is for the Red Sox to have clinched the division by then, maybe saving them from an inning or two from Porcello (Friday), Rodriguez (Saturday) and Price (Sunday).

Detroit Tigers at Atlanta Braves: An odd place for the Tigers to finish the season, but the Tigers are 12-5 in interleague games without yet having played the Braves. Jordan Zimmermann, his summer torn apart by injury, is scheduled for the middle game.

Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals: Weird stat of the season: the Cardinals are 48-33 on the road, 33-41 at home. More relevant to the weekend, 2-5 against the Pirates at home.

Houston Astros at Los Angeles Angels: The Astros had hammered the dreadful Angels for five months, then lost three of four to them at home last week and nearly played themselves out of contention.

Oakland Athletics at Seattle Mariners: If it comes down to it, Felix Hernandez goes Sunday. He is 23-8 with a 2.61 ERA against the A’s, 12-3 with a 2.81 in Oakland.

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants: Could Vin Scully call the Dodgers’ clincher in LA and the Giants’ elimination in San Francisco?

Otherwise, not much going on.

SAW IT COMING (sort of):

Disclaimer: I hold an AL Cy Young vote, so cannot disclose my preference there.

NL MVP: Kris Bryant

NL Cy Young: Max Scherzer

NL ROY: Corey Seager

AL MVP: Mike Trout

AL Comeback Player: Ian Desmond

DIDN’T SEE IT COMING:

NL Manager of the Year: Dave Roberts

NL Comeback Player: Jean Segura

AL Manager: Terry Francona

AL ROY: Michael Fulmer