Late Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez's high school baseball jersey was stolen right out of the dugout at his old school in Tampa, Fla., during a packed vigil for the star, an ABC affiliate reported Thursday.
About 600 fans, students and teachers from Alonso High School gathered Wednesday night to honor the 24-year-old ace, who died in a boating crash last Sunday near Miami Beach.
Fernandez's old jersey, with the No. 16 on it, was on a hanger in the dugout during the vigil – and then disappeared after the ceremony ended.
"It boggles my mind just that somebody would do something like that," head baseball coach Landy Faedo, who managed Fernandez for three years, told ABC Action News.
"I just brought it out so people could see it, so when they first walked in the dugout they’d see that No. 16 there and just give a quick thought about Jose real quick."
The coach is begging the thief to "just bring it back."
"One thing we try to instill in the kids here at school is good decisions, just be a good person, and just do the right things, something like that is not the right thing," Faedo said.
There was no surveillance camera in the dugout.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is investigating, ABC Action News reported.
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