biographyTony Fernandez was born on June 30 in San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic. He made his major league debut on September 2, 1983 with the Toronto Blue Jays. Of his 17 major league seasons, Tony spent 12 of them with the Blue Jays where he played short stop every day. His first year with the team he posted a fielding percentage of 1000 and a .265 batting average. Fernandez kept his fielding percentage in the 900 range consistently enough to earn him four gold glove awards (‘86,’ 87, ‘88, and ‘89). In 1991 he was traded to the San Diego Padres where he played well enough to earn an All Star game invitation in 1992. A year later he was traded back o the Toronto Blue Jays where he contributed to a World Series win. In that 1993 post season, Fernandez put up a .333 batting average and a .423 on base percentage among other standout categories. In the 1994 season, Tony went to the Cincinnati Reds where he played 3rd base. He posted a .991 fielding percentage and a .279 batting average, as well as .371 on base percentage. After one season with the Reds, Fernandez went to the New York Yankees. During his tenure as the Yankees shortstop he posted a .976 fielding percentage, a .245 batting average, as well as a .322 on base percentage. An injury at the beginning of the 1996 season forced the Bronx Bombers to move in another direction at shortstop (Derek Jeter). But Fernandez was not done yet. In 1997 he signed with the Cleveland Indians where he put up a .980 fielding percentage, a .286 batting average, as well as a .423 on base percentage. During the 1997 post season, Fernandez batted .357 in the American League Championship. He won an award for hitting a clutch 3 run homerun late in game 7 that the Orioles could not recover from. In the World Series, Tony posted a .471 batting average and a .444 on base percentage. In 1998, Fernandez went back to the familiar Toronto Blue Jays. During the ’98 season he posted a .939 fielding percentage, a .328 batting average, and a .387 on base percentage. During the ’98 season, Fernandez led the majors in batting for most of the year on the way to earning him his 5th All Star game invitation. In 2000, Fernandez spent a season in Japan playing for the Seibu Lions. In 2001 he returned to America and finished his career with the Toronto Blue Jays where he batted .293 and posted a .427 on base percentage. Tony Fernandez played his final game on October 7th 2001. After his playing days were over, Fernandez dedicated his time to religion. He has since earned several degrees in ministry school on the way to becoming an ordained minister. His home church is El Rey Jesus (King Jesus Ministry). He attends services at least four times a week and is enrolled in more ministry classes. When he is not at church, Fernandez spends his time running the day to day operations of the Tony Fernandez Foundation. His non profit organization has offices in Canada, The U.S. and in the Dominican Republic. He established the TFF to help people in need all over the world. Tony developed a compassion for needy people because he himself came from a poor, third world background. When he is not busy trying to save the world, Tony spends time at home with his wife Clara and his five kids(Joel, Jonathan, Abraham, Andres and Jasmine). |
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Annual Baseball Camp Aug 17 - 21 (view) online donationYou are now able to make your contributions online by clicking here. videos2008 Presentation (click here to view) photos
writer's cornerA section dedicated to story postings by Joel Fernández, son of the founder Tony Fernández. Read the latest post here. |
