NEW YORK -- Ron Darling was in the Mets television broadcast booth on the afternoon of April 7, 2013, curious to see the 20-year-old rookie pitcher for the Marlins everyone was buzzing about.
The word was out on Jose Fernandez.
“I had heard about him,” said Darling, a former pitcher who won 136 games in the majors. “But I’ve heard about a lot of pitchers. Until you see them you really don’t know.”
By the end of the day, Darling and anyone else who watched the performance -- Fernandez’s major-league debut -- were convinced. Fernandez was the real deal.