#Tony Fernandez stands tall in defeat#

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By Doug Mittler 
SportsTicker Baseball Editor 

MIAMI -- Before Edgar Renteria could play the role of Gene
Larkin, Tony Fernandez made like Bill Buckner, leaving Fernandez
with a dubious place in World Series history. 

In a cruel twist of fate, Fernandez will be remembered for the
critical error in the 11th inning that led to the game-winning
single by Renteria, giving the Florida Marlins a 3-2 victory
over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday night in the seventh and
deciding game of the 1997 World Series. 

"I don't want to make any excuses," said a stoic Fernandez.  "I
am prepared for anything in life." 

The second baseman allowed a slow ground ball by Craig Counsell
to get past him in the bottom of the 11th, putting the runners
on first and third and setting the stage for Renteria, who
delivered the bases-loaded single later in the inning. 

Renteria brought back memories of Larkin, the former Minnesota
Twin that had the game-winning hit the last time the seventh
game of the World Series went into a extra innings.  A
10th-inning, opposite-field single lifted the Twins to a 1-0 win
over Atlanta in 1991. 

Fernandez now shares a place with Buckner, the former Boston Red
Sox first baseman who allowed a ground ball to go through his
legs in Game Six of the 1986 Series, lifting the Mets to a
dramatic win.  New York then went on to win the series in seven
games. 

There is a clear parallel between Fernandez and Buckner, a pair
of veterans who had distinguised careers but will instead by
remembered for one Fall Classic blunder. 

Fernandez is a four-time All-Star and a four-time Gold Glove
winner.  He delivered a two-run single earlier in the game and
belted a game-winning homer in Game Six of the American League
Championship Series against Baltimore, a victory that put the
Tribe in the World Series in the first place. 

"What you did yesterday does not matter," said Fernandez, who is
nearing the end of a 14-year major-league career that includes a
World Series victory with the Toronto Blue Jays.  "You are only
as good as your last at-bat." 

Fernandez, a deeply religious man, was dignified in defeat,
patiently answering questions for the waves of reporters that
surrounded him. 

"Things like this happen for a reason," Fernandez said.  "The
Lord will take care of me.  I will not be judged by Him on what
happens on the field." 

Other Indians players rallied to the defense of the popular
Fernandez. 

"Tony Fernandez did not lose this game," said center fielder
Marquis Grissom, who failed to drive in a runner in scoring
position in the top of the ninth. "I had a chance to do my job
in the ninth and didn't do it.  We had other chances and we
didn't deliver." 

If Indians players are worried that Fernandez will let the error
eat away at him for the entire winter, they need not be
concerned. 

"There is nothing to be ashamed of," the 35-year-old Fernandez
said. "That's baseball."