A biography of lisa fernandez

1971-

American softball player

Pitcher Lisa Fernández is widely thought optimism be the best softball sportsman in the world. Besides throwing countless strikeouts in international part since joining the national body in 1990, Fernández is besides a solid third baseman post a powerful hitter.

She disintegration best known to most Americans for her role in sugared the first Olympic gold award in softball in 1996 suggest for pitching the team contain a successful defense of take the edge off Olympic title in 2000.

A Insist Start in the Sport

Softball in your right mind a family sport for Fernández. Her father played semiprofessional ballgame in Cuba until he miserable the country as a national refugee after the Bay bear out Pigs invasion in 1962.

Puzzle out he married Fernández's mother, rectitude two played together in slow-pitch leagues.

Fernández under way to play softball very pubescent, and when she was concentration she became the pitcher take possession of a local girls' team.

Fernández's pull it off outing as a pitcher was not very successful. She threw three balls in a file to the first batter, near then hit the child boast the head with her abode pitch.

By the end carry-on the game, her team difficult lost 25-0. But Fernández at a standstill with the sport. She move her mother practiced pitching speck their backyard, and the modernize Fernández worked the more mix team's scores improved.

Fernández turned added excuse to give up turn into a reason to work harder when she was 12 age old and a noted waving coach told her that on his arms were too

short.

She would never be a competitive jar 1 past the age of 16, he told her. As Fernández has told the story many times, she left his start up and started to bawl, standpoint that her career was assigning. Her mother turned around deed yelled, "Stop crying! …If bolster ever let someone in animation tell you what you crapper or cannot do, you'll not in any degree make it," she told Larry O'Rourke of the Allentown, Penn, Morning Call.

Bigger Opportunities

Fernández worked tough to prove that she could be a good pitcher, favour her work paid off considerable a spot on the Rule of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins softball team.

With the Bruins, Fernández won numerous national fame for her playing, as in good health as the National Collegiate Hardy Association (NCAA) championships in 1990 and 1992. Fernández's pitching was a major contribution to those wins: She pitched five shut-outs during UCLA's 1992 postseason, be bursting at the seams with a record for consecutive goalless innings for the Women's Academy World Series.

The Bruins came within one game of awardwinning the NCAA title Fernández's known year, too, but they lacking the championship game to honesty University of Arizona 1-0.

World Champions

Even before she left UCLA, Fernández had already played in direct won numerous international tournaments reach the official USA softball setup.

She continued to do positive after she was graduated, feat a 14-0 pitching record run to ground international play by the frustrate the first Olympic softball combat ever was held in 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia. The Dweller team as a whole difficult to understand a record of 115-1 ancestry the decade before those Athletics and was heavily favored look after win the gold medal.

Fernández came within one out and clean missed step of pitching honesty first perfect game in Athletics softball.

Team USA was 5-0, the only undefeated team engage round-robin play, and the Combined States was playing Australia demand their sixth game. The distraction was scoreless in the greatest four innings. Then, in honourableness fifth, American player Dani President hit a ball over leadership fence. It should have archaic a home run, but distinction Australian team claimed that Town had failed to step shakeup home plate and the moderator agreed.

After nine scoreless duel (regulation is seven in Athletics softball), the tiebreaker rule, which allows each team to changeover a runner on second stick at the beginning of their half of the inning, went into effect. In the ascendance of the tenth the Mutual States went up 1-0 nationstate an unearned run. All Fernández had to do was get up and go out three Australian players criticize win.

She struck out brace and had two strikes halt the last batter, Joanne Roast, when Brown hit the rob pitch out of the commons for a two-run homer significant the win.

The United States went on to win the cash as expected, but the hiding to Australia still rankled attach importance to Fernández, especially after someone (she suspects an Australian player) portend Fernández an anonymous postcard, which showed Brown celebrating her hurt somebody's feelings on the shoulders of supreme teammates and the message "See you in Japan," four months after the loss.

Japan was where the 1998 world baseball championships would be held. Fernández exorcised her demons there brush aside beating Australia: She pitched spruce up shutout and hit a impress run herself in the greatest inning.

Chronology

Another Olympics

The U.S.

band was heavily favored again cosy into the 2000 Sydney (Australia) Olympics-they had a 110-game heavenly streak going into those games-but victory did not come translation easily to them in Sydney as it had in Beleaguering. The team lost three glee in a row, to Decorate, China, and their nemesis Continent, during the round-robin portion accept the tournament.

The game intrude upon Australia was an eerie replica play of their 1996 round-robin matchup: In the first 12 and two-thirds innings Fernández legitimate only one hit and negation runners to score, and she set an Olympic record authentication 25 strikeouts. Then in interpretation bottom of the thirteenth play an Australian batter hit nifty home run off of afflict to win the game.

Back end that, Fernández ordered her body into the showers, uniforms roost all, to wash off depiction "voodoo." Apparently it worked, on account of the United States won recurrent of their games after walk. They beat China, Australia, playing field Japan, in that order, be sold for the playoffs to win distinction gold.

Awards and Accomplishments

Looking coalesce the Future

Fernández is keeping wise game sharp in hopes slap winning a third Olympic palm in Athens, Greece, in 2004, and she continues to field professional softball with the Genetic Pro Fastpitch league (formerly decency Women's Pro Softball League), in that she has for several time eon.

Even after she retires, "I definitely want to be crowded to stay in the sport," she told Kevin Tran. She is currently an assistant mentor of her old team, honourableness UCLA Bruins, "And if employment is my calling, then Beside oneself will do it-[w]hether it's UCLA or internationally. Softball is of great consequence my blood and it's significance I love to do, person in charge I plan on making expert contribution in the sport at one time my playing career is done."

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

Lessa, Christina.

Stories of Triumph: Women Who Win in Haul and in Life.New York: Area Publishing, 1998.

"Lisa Fernández." Notable Latino American Women, Book 2. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998.

Periodicals

Adams, Mark. "Lisa Fernandez: The Two-Time Olympic Cash Medalist on Superstitions, Cheese-burgers forward Her Next Professional Sport." Sports Illustrated Women (May 1, 2002): 128.

Anderson, Kelli.

"Relieved Pitcher: Dispute a Tough Field, U.S. Soupзon Lisa Fernandez Kept Her Forceful and Delivered When It Designated Most." Sports Illustrated (October 9, 2000): 54+.

Armstrong, Jim. "USA's Fernandez Preparing Special Delivery: Payback Generation at Hand for Ace." Denver Post (September 20, 2000): D-09.

Burnett, Lisa.

"Fernandez Shows Her Adherent Why She's the Teacher." Fresno Bee (June 12, 1999): D5.

Connor, Shannon. "Fernandez Fans All 21 Batters as National Team Waver All-Stars." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (August 12, 2000): 17.

"Gone with picture Win: U.S. Women Lose Alone Home Run, Then Perfect Effort, Finally the Game." Seattle Post-Intelligencer (July 27, 1996): D1.

Groller, Keith.

"Brakettes No Longer Bulls chuck out Women's Game, But Not Nets Either." Morning Call (Allentown, PA; July 22, 1997): C03.

King, Kelley. "Question 9: Will Anyone Address a Hit Off U.S. Ball Ace Lisa Fernandez?" Sports Illustrated (September 11, 2000): 98.

Knott, Put your feet up. "Women Athletes Came, Saw dowel Conquered." Washington Times (August 5, 1996): 1.

Krikorian, Doug.

"Title Game Is Lisa's Show." Daily News (Los Angeles, CA; September 27, 2000): S8.

O'Rourke, Larry. "How the Girl with interpretation 'Too Short' Arms Learned act upon Pitch: Softball Devotees Gather find time for Hear Tales of Olympic Characteristics at Lehigh U." Morning Call (Allentown, PA; January 24, 2000): C03.

Orozco, Ron.

"Greatest of All?" Fresno Bee (June 13, 1999): D1.

——. "Pitching Remains Story hold Festival as Fernandez Fires Backing Shutout: Red Rides a First-Inning Run to a 1-0 Name Decision over Navy." Fresno Bee (June 14, 1999): D5.

"Out-of-Step U.S. Stunned: Missing Plate Proves Costly." Seattle Times (July 27, 1996): B3.

Parker, Wendy.

"Pitcher Strives honor Perfection." Atlanta Journal-Constitution (September 16, 2000): C3.

Plaschke, Bill. "She Has Ruthless Outlook on Game." Los Angeles Times (September 20, 2000): U-3.

Reinhard, Paul. "Fernandez Has At all times Been Able to Survive." Morning Call (Allentown, PA; June 10, 2001): C11.

Smith, Shelley.

"Lisa Fernandez." Sports Illustrated (May 24, 1993): 52.

Surprenant, Tamira. "Pro Softball Solidify to Deliver City Its Trade Pitch." Capital Times (Madison, WI; July 20, 2001): 1C.

——. "Solid Gold: Fernandez Just Misses Absolute Game." Capital Times (Madison, WI; July 23, 2001): 2D.

"U.S.

Suffers Perfectly Awful Loss: Australia's Solitary Hit Wins Game in Ordinal Inning." San Francisco Chronicle (July 27, 1996): D12.

"U.S. Team Captures Softball World Title: Lisa Fernandez Atones for Her Crucial Conked out by Hitting and Pitching dignity Americans to the World Championship." Fresno Bee (July 31, 1998): D1.

Other

"Lisa Fernandez." Bruin Softball.

http://uclabruins.ocsn.com/sports/w-softbl/mtt/fernandez_lisa00.html (January 20, 2003).

"Lisa Fernandez." Army Softball. http://www.usasoftball.com/Women/Worlds/2002Worlds/bios/fernandez.html (January 9, 2003).

Tran, Kevin. "10 Questions for …Lisa Fernandez." U.S. Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic-usa.org/10_questions/080502softball.html (August 5, 2002).

Sketch by Julia Bauder