Alexander Fernandez (born August 13, 1969) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

. He pitched for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

(1990–96) and

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

(1997, 1999–2000) in his 11-year

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

career. He was a member of the Florida Marlins when they won their first-ever World Series championship. After pitching the entire regular season for the Marlins, Fernandez was on the 1997 postseason roster for the

NLDS In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring e ...

and

NLCS The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National ...

. However, due to a shoulder injury, he was unavailable during the World Series. Fernandez retired in 2001, citing shoulder problems that were incurred in the 1997 postseason, On April 10 of that 1997 season, against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

, Fernandez had a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

broken up with one out in the ninth on a Dave Hansen single (the ball going under Fernandez' glove and under his right leg), the only hit Fernandez would allow in defeating the Cubs 1-0. The no-hitter would have been the first pitched against the Cubs since

Sandy Koufax's perfect game Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched a perfect game in the National League against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, September 9, 1965. The game was not televised. Koufax, by retiring 27 consecutive batters without a ...

in 1965. Fernandez was born in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which ...

in 1969. He attended Monsignor Edward Pace High School in Miami Gardens, FL. In 1990, Fernandez won the Dick Howser Trophy for National College Baseball player of the year while pitching at

Miami-Dade Community College Miami Dade College (Miami Dade, MDC or Dade) is a public college in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1959, it has a total of eight campuses and twenty-one outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County. It is the largest college in the Florida College S ...

(MDCC). He previously played at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

before transferring to MDCC to be eligible to enter the Baseball Major League Draft. Going on a different path after retiring from baseball, Fernandez is involved in radio and becoming active in politics in his hometown of

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which ...

, where he campaigned for and helped elect its mayor. He is the former director of baseball operations at

Archbishop McCarthy High School , motto_translation = To abide in the love of Christ. , accreditation = Southern Association of Colleges and Schools , rival = Monsignor Edward Pace High School St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Florida) , mascot = ...

in Southwest Ranches, Florida. Fernandez was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame on September 13, 2008. The induction took place during a pregame ceremony before a Florida Marlins vs Washington Nationals game at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Alex 1969 births Living people All-American college baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American sportspeople of Cuban descent Baseball players from Miami Birmingham Barons players Chicago White Sox players National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Florida Marlins players Golden Spikes Award winners Gulf Coast White Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers Miami Dade Sharks baseball players Miami Hurricanes baseball players Sarasota White Sox players Vancouver Canadians players Monsignor Edward Pace High School alumni