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Emotional night in Miami as players and fans honor Jose Fernandez

Of all the tributes we've seen to Jose Fernandez over the past two days, the best one came from Miami Marlins teammate Dee Gordon, bat in hand, blasting an unlikely home run to lead off Monday's emotionally charged game in Miami.

Gordon ? who hadn't homered all season ? who came up and knocked the third pitch he saw from the New York Mets' Bartolo Colon over the fence. If you need any more proof that Fernandez was on Gordon's mind, he started his at-bat from the right side of the plate, like Fernandez, then switched to hitting lefty after the first pitch.

When Gordon crossed home plate, the tears were flowing. He banged his fist against his chest and motioned to the sky, sure that his friend was watching him. When he got to the dugout, Gordon put his head on the shoulder of Marlins manager Don Mattingly and cried some more.

You can be sure he wasn't the only one crying. The entire baseball world has stunned by the death of Fernandez at age 24 in a boating accident early Sunday morning in Miami. That afternoon's game was canceled. On Monday, Marlins players all wore his No. 16, then ownership announced no one would ever wear the number again. They were retiring it.

– Mike Oz