Here at Toronto Baseball Guys, we sometimes like to offer a different take on the great game of baseball. With Out of Left Field we've created a space for our more unconventional and abstract musings. Be warned, some of the opinions and ideas expressed here are wackier than a Jose Canseco noggin-aided homer, and shouldn't be taken as seriously as, say, buying a $180 ticket behind home plate and spending the game on a cell phone waving to friends on TV... those guys should be shot.

Something has bothered me ever since Tony Fernandez first stepped onto the field as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. September 2nd, 1983. I remember watching the young Dominican and asking myself what I reckon millions of fans were asking themselves at the same moment: could Tony Fernandez be the incarnation of a sacred Hindu deity? Tony would go on to play 17 big league seasons, amass 2276 base hits, win 4 gold gloves at shortstop, and acquire a World Series ring as a member of the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays, and during that time, to the best of my knowledge, that question has yet to be answered.

As is the case with any scientific study, for this project to be taken seriously facts need to be examined. The major failing of most religious deities is the lack of solid evidence proving their existence. Who has seen a photograph of Yama, Buddhist death god? Not me. Who has read a dissertation written by Pollux, Roman horse god? Nobody I know. Therefore, do these gods exist? No. If they did we would be left with some primary source material instead of some ridiculous stories written by god knows who. Facts. For me to prove that Tony Fernandez is or is not a Hindu deity I will have to rely on facts.

Much like the young 21 year old native of San Pedro de Macoris, "Visnu began, according to the Vedas, as a minor cosmic deity imagined striding the sky in three giant steps." In the shadow of then incumbent be-afroed Alfredo Griffin, who wouldn't be seen as minor deity. That would quickly change. Apart from that, the choice of phrasing in the Vedas is a curious one--three giant steps--perhaps pre-imagining the three giant steps Tony would continually take while turning the double play in the vaunted Blue Jay infield. Step one, receive the ball approaching second base, step two, release the ball while striding in the sky to avoid the oncoming base runner, and step three, landing safely on the first base side of the infield safe from harm, and two outs closer to the end of the game.

Keeping with Fernandez's defensive prowess, it comes as no surprise that Visnu is depicted generally with four arms...and many heads. Four arms, one for each gold glove Fernandez earned as a member of the Blue Jays. It would also help to explain how he managed to make 3214 put outs and 5544 assists while only committing 196 errors. Merely 49 errors an arm over 17 seasons. A stunning number for a shortstop, but when one puts the four arm theory into the equation, even if only two were ever visible, it sounds a lot more plausible.

The many of heads of Visnu could represent the many hats Fernandez has worn during his illustrious career. On top of the Toronto Blue Jay, Tony has also donned the vaunted SD of the Padres, the NY of both the Yankees and Mets, the red C of the Reds, the yellow brown M of the Brewers, the happy Indian of Cleveland and whatever the hell his team in Japan wore on their hats. Many heads indeed.

Finally, Visnu is called "The keeper of civilized morality and order". Those who have followed Fernandez's career know that Tony has walked a similar path of peace and order, becoming both a born again Christian and a keeper of his people in the Dominican Republic. Fernandez, in the name of morality and order, has more than once raised funds to help rebuild weather beaten communities at home, and during the recent hardships in the late nineties, actually travelled back to the Dominican to help rebuild. Other than a brief run-in with then Yankee Hideki Irabu in the late 1990's, Fernandez has always publicly maintained a calm composure, sometimes at the expense of his reputation. What was in fact a god-like civility was more than once mistaken by the Toronto media as a moody sullenness.

Fernandez's work rebuilding communities in the Dominican Republic also leads one to look more closely at Ganesa, Hindu god of wisdom and prudence. Ganesa, son of Siva and Parvati, often depicted with a human body and an elephant head, has been widely described as "a benign deity generally assumed to offer help when invoked to overcome difficulties". Enough said. But what of the elephant head? There are many different stories about how Ganesa acquired his pachyderm prosthetic, but the most commonly accepted theory is that Parvati, Ganesa's mother, took him to the gods intending to show him off, but the trip took a terrible turn when Sani intentionally burned Ganesa's head to ashes. It is said that his ash head was soon replaced with an elephant head by the ever compassionate Visnu. An astute reader would be miles ahead of me at this point, and thinking of the ever vengeful Cecilo Guante, who in April 1989, after giving up a grand slam to Fernandez earlier in the game, beaned him with a fastball to the cheek. Fernandez's head was not turned to ash, as Ganesa's was, but he was forced to have reconstructive facial surgery, and miss a large chunk of the 1989 campaign. However, like Ganesa, this facial flaw did not force Fernandez to abandon his destiny; Tony went on to hit a career high 11 home runs in 1989.

When looking at the career of Tony Fernandez, one must also look beyond his individual accomplishments, and look at how he affected the team on which he played. A close look at Fernandez's striking impact on his various teams can only lead us to Siva; "a deity with the linked roles of both creator and destroyer of life".

Let us look at a few seemingly isolated incidents. 1987, in the heat of a pennant race with only a week left in the season, Fernandez is taken down by a sliding Bill Madlock, seriously injuring his elbow. For the remainder of the season Manny Lee took over at short (please see previously written article entitled 'Manny Lee, Eddie Zosky, and Alex Gonzalez; The True Axis of Evil) and the Blue Jays title hopes almost miraculously came crashing down.

Fernandez has played the roles of both creator and destroyer many times, but never more clearly than in the fall of 1997. 1997, ALCS. As a member of the Cleveland Indians, the light hitting shortstop is faced with once dominant Baltimore closer Armando Benitez. With the playoffs on the line, in the top of the 11th of a scoreless game, Fernandez hits solo home run, propelling the Indians into the World Series and a date with the Florida Marlins. In that series, once the creator of life, Fernandez takes on the role of destroyer, booting a ground ball at second that prolonged the final inning and allowed Florida's Edgar Renteria to knock in Craig Counsell from third, destroying Cleveland's chance at nirvana. But understanding his need to balance the universe, a calm Fernandez, in a Spring 1998 issue of "New Man" magazine, philosophizes; "In baseball you have to face many adversities. Sometimes God uses those to make your faith stronger...things like this happen for a reason."

Like Siva, Fernandez also "personifies the inexorable passage of time". 17 seasons. A Blue Jay in 4 distinct eras of club history, appearing first in the Barfield/Bell Era of the mid 1980's, then the Carter/Alomar/Molitor team of 1993, and finally on the Delgado Era teams in the late 90's and 2001. No other player in Toronto history has crossed all of those generations; has worn the powder blue pants, the white vest, and the bionic Blue Jay hat.

The last proof of Fernandez's link to Siva stands without comment. Read it and imagine the 1089 double plays Fernandez turned, the 3214 put outs. "As lord of the dance, Nataraja, Siva's steps follow the rhythm of the universal forces. He dances in a circle of fire, treading upon the dwarfish figure who is the personification of ignorance."

Is Tony Fernandez an incarnation of the holy deities of the Hindu faith. Is he, in fact, more powerful than Visnu, Ganesa, and Siva individually because he encompasses so many of their combined traits? Should the Hindu people of the world finally lay their praise at the feet of Tony's bobble head doll? I think any right thinking person now knows the answer to these questions.

ALL QUOTES COURTESY OF ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GODS, by Michael Jordan