Back of the card say'sThe route Alex Fernandez took to the majors is a unusual one. The son of Cuban immigrants, he grew up in Miami,starred at Pace High and was a member of the 1987 USA junior national team that finished second to Cuba at the World Junior Tournament. In 88 he was a first- round draft pick of the Brewers but opted to attend the University of Miami, where he had a tremendous 89 season - 15 W, 2 L, 2.01 ERA- and was named Baseball America's freshmen of the Year.Alex then transferred to a junior college, Miami-Dade Communtity College South, so he could be eligible for the 1990 draft.(ML rules don'tallow college players to be drafted until after their junior year.) After a super 12-2, 1.19juco season, he was the #1 pick of the White Sox. He had a brief stint in the minors, made his ML debut August 2 and went 5-5 3.80 in the heat of Chicago's pennant race. The first-year pro ended 1990 on an ironic note as the winner of the Gold Spikes Award ,given to the nation's top amateur player.
3 comments:
I thought he was going to be great. Not so.
I still have that card. I bought Topps Magazine just for the cards. Unfortunately, Alex wasn't as good as his first few years. He had a lot of potential.
Alex is now doing radio and becoming active in politics, specially within his hometown of Miami Beach where he campaigned and helped elect its mayor.
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