The wife of a former Detroit Tigers prospect died in last week’s earthquakes in Venezuela.
Gorkys Hernandez, who played in the Tigers’ minor leagues in the early 2000s, wrote on Instagram over the weekend that wife Deisy Tovar died in the earthquakes that rocked Venezuela last week.
Tovar was 36, and was inside a hotel at a beachfront resort in Macuto, not far from Venezuela’s capital of Caracas, the California Post reported. Hernandez’s team was in town getting ready to play a game, and players rushed to the hotel after one of the earthquakes, the Post reported.
Two massive earthquakes, measuring more than 7.0 in magnitude, hit Venezuela last Wednesday and Thursday. The death toll has climbed to more than 1,700, according to officials in Venezuela.
“You are, and always will be, the queen of my life — the most beautiful, kindest, and most precious woman, the best woman in the world,” Hernández wrote on Instagram on Saturday, in a post that has been translated by multiple news outlets. “You were always the one who found a way to lift me up during my darkest moments. You were, and always will be, the most beautiful woman in my life. You will always be with me, every hour of every day.
“Fly high, my princess, my queen. May God hold you in His glory. Guide me as I move forward and continue to care for our family. I love you. I love you. Rest in peace, my darling.
“Give me strength, love of my life, because we had a mission together. Now I’m here to fulfill it for you. You taught me to be strong through every moment in life, even though it isn’t easy.
“But this is how you wanted me to be, and this is how I will be.”
Hernandez, 38, plays for La Guaira Delfines of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, and his team was playing Aragua Tigres when the earthquake struck. The game was suspended.
Hernandez played parts of six seasons in Major League Baseball, with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Miami Marlins, San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox. His best season was 2018, when he hit 15 homers with the Giants. His last season in the majors was 2019 with the Red Sox.
Hernandez was signed by the Tigers as a 17-year-old amateur free agent in 2005, and was traded by the Tigers to the Atlanta Braves with starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens in exchange for shortstop Edgar Renteria in October 2007. In 2008 and 2009, Hernandez, an outfielder, was ranked a top-100 prospect by Baseball America.
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Wife of former Detroit Tigers prospect dies in Venezuela earthquakes
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tony Paul, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
