From José Fernández to Roberto Clemente, 10 star athletes who died way too soon
The sports world reacted with shock and horror Sunday morning when news broke that Miami Marlins pitcher José Fernández -- one of baseball's most dominant pitchers and ebullient personalities -- died in a boating accident.
Sadly, Fernández joins a too-long list of professional athletes who have died while at or near the height of their powers and popularity.
Here's a look back at 10 athletes we lost too soon, including Sunday's most recent addition to the roll call.
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10. Roberto Clemente, 1972
A right fielder from Puerto Rico, Clemente in 1973 became the first Latin American player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Clemente was a 15-time All Star, the 1966 National League MVP and won World Series titles in 1960 and 1971. He was named MVP of the 1971 World Series after hitting .414 and blasting a Game 7 home run.
"I want everybody in the world to know that this is the way I play all the time," Clemente told Roger Angell before his Game 7 heroics. "All season, every season. I gave everything I had to this game."
The following year, Clemente died in a plane crash while attempting to deliver aid to the people of Managua, Nicaragua, after a massive earthquake rocked the Central American capital.
Clemente was 38 years old.
9. Steve Prefontaine, 1975
The closest thing his sport has ever had to a rock star, Prefontaine became a legend for his hard-charging style as a middle and long-distance runner. His charisma also helped a fledging athletic-shoe company called Nike gain traction with runners.
The legend of "Pre," as he's known to running fans, remains strong today. In 2013, Runner's World explored his mythos: "He wasn’t always the fastest. Nor was he the most decorated. So four decades after his death, why is Steve Prefontaine still the most influential American runner ever?"
Prefontaine lived out loud and in bold colors until his life was abruptly cut short when he crashed his MGB convertible while returning from a post-race party near the University of Oregon.
Prefontaine was 24 years old.
8. Thurman Munson, 1979
Munson is a New York Yankees legend who won American League Rookie of the Year in 1970, won American League MVP in 1976 and made seven All Star teams.
The catcher also helped lead the men in pinstripes to consecutive World Series titles in 1977 and 1978.
One year later, however -- in the middle of the 1979 season -- Munson died in a plane crash in his native Ohio.
Munson was 32 years old.
7. Len Bias, 1986
A physically imposing forward and freak athlete with a diverse arsenal of skills, Bias represents one of basketball's saddest stories.
Bias averaged more than 23 points per game in his final season at the University of Maryland, and was named a first-team All-American. The Boston Celtics then selected him with the second overall pick of the 1986 NBA Draft.
Just days later, before ever playing a professional game, Bias died of complications from a cocaine overdose.
Bias was 22 years old.
6. Hank Gathers, 1990
Gathers was another college basketball star who, like Bias, died too young. But Gathers didn't even get to see his name called at the NBA Draft.
Gathers spearheaded a frenetic attack at Loyola Marymount University. His Lions teams are still legendary among college basketball fans for their breakneck pace of play and astronomical scoring totals. In 1989, Gathers averaged 32.7 points and 13.7 rebounds per game. The following season, he averaged 29.0 points and 10.8 rebounds -- until tragedy struck.
During a West Coast Conference tournament semifinal game on March 4, 1990, Gathers collapsed on the court. At a hospital soon after, he was pronounced dead due to complications from a heart disorder.
Gathers was 23 years old.
5. Drazen Petrovic, 1993
Before European imports regularly became NBA stars, there was Petrovic, a sweet-shooting swingman from Croatia.
Petrovic took his talents to the NBA in 1989, while in his mid-20s, after having already conquered European competition. He had his best season stateside as a New Jersey Net in 1993, when he earned a spot on the All-NBA Third Team alongside luminaries including Scottie Pippen and David Robinson.
The following summer, Petrovic died in a car accident in Germany.
Petrovic was 28 years old.
4. Pat Tillman, 2004
Tillman's story is one of the most unique in sports history. He'd carved out a successful NFL career for himself, but in 2002 left professional football behind to join the military following the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Tillman was a patriot, but nuanced in his view of the world, war and American military operations. His life and death are explored in great detail in Where Men Win Glory, Jon Krakauer's engrossing 2009 biography of the player-turned soldier.
Tillman was killed in a friendly-fire accident in Afghanistan in 2004.
He was 27 years old.
3. Sean Taylor, 2007
Taylor starred as a Miami high schooler, then at the University of Miami before becoming the fifth overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft.
Taylor made his first Pro Bowl following the 2006 season. He was enjoying perhaps the best NFL season of his career in 2007 -- registering five interceptions through nine games -- when he was killed during a home invasion robbery in November of that year.
Taylor was 24 years old.
2. Christian Benitez, 2013
Benitez is an icon in Ecuadorean soccer. He was a national team star whose father starred for the national team before him, and he married the daughter of still another Ecuadorean soccer standout.
Ecuador harbored hopes of a dark-horse run in the 2014 World Cup, hopes largely pegged to Benitez, the South American side's dangerous striker. But he didn't make it that far.
While playing for a Qatari club in July 2013, Benitez suddenly died of complications due to a congenital heart condition.
He was 27 years old.
1. José Fernández, 2016
And now we reach Sunday's tragic addition to this list.
Just days after proudly sharing on Instagram that he would soon become a father, the Marlins pitcher died in a boating accident near Miami. The 2013 National League Rookie of the Year was among baseball's brightest stars, but admired for the joy with which he played the game as much as for his talent.
Fernández's story, too, is the stuff of sports legend.
He was born in Cuba and dreamed of coming to the United States. The first three times he tried to defect, Fernández was caught. He even served prison time in Cuba as punishment, according to this excellent profile from 2013. But the fourth time Fernández set sail -- a journey that included him saving his mother's life at 15 years old -- he reached American shores.
The kid who wouldn't be denied went on to MLB stardom. How much better he might still become was a fascinating and fun topic to mull -- until Sunday's news stopped the baseball world in its tracks.
Fernández was 24 years old.
Sam Laird is Mashable's Senior Sports Reporter. He covers the wide, weird world of sports from all angles -- as well as occasional other topics -- from Mashable's San Francisco bureau. Before joining Mashable in November 2011, his freelance work appeared in publications including the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Slam, and East Bay Express. Sam is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, and basketball and burritos take up most of his spare time. Follow him on Twitter @samcmlaird.
