The season began back in early March, with a cover story in ESPN The Magazine in which Bryce Harper, the 23-year-old reigning MVP of the Washington Nationals, declared that baseball is a tired sport.It will end with the crowning of a World Series champion.In between, the season has played out in the background of a presidential race in which immigration became one of the pivotal issues.Jose Fernandez was an immigrant. He tried and failed three times to defect from Cuba before he and his mother finally made it on a fourth try. Last year, he became a U.S. citizen. And on the baseball field, he was anything but tired.Harpers argument was the games unwritten code limits self-expression. You cant do what people in other sports do, he said. Im not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but its the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair.He singled out Fernandez. Jose Fernandez is a great example. Jose Fernandez will strike you out and stare you down into the dugout and pump his fist. And if you hit a homer and pimp it? He doesnt care. Because you got him. Thats part of the game. Its not the old feeling -- hoorah ... if you pimp a homer, Im going to hit you right in the teeth. No. If a guy pimps a homer for a game-winning shot ... I mean -- sorry.Fernandez not only had the flair that Harper admires but an unfiltered joy for the game. As teammates, opposing players and reporters talked about Fernandez the past two days, everyone mentioned that he simply loved playing baseball, always played with a smile, heck, could even make Barry Bonds laugh in the dugout:On Twitter, two moments from his rookie season were continuously retweeted as a form of grief therapy. The first one was when Fernandez improbably snagged a line drive off the bat of Troy Tulowitzki:Did you catch that? the cameras captured Tulowitzki asking. Fernandez grinned. Yeah. Of course he did.The second one was his reaction after Giancarlo Stanton hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning of a game nobody now remembers except for this:The Marlins announced that they will retire Fernandezs No. 16. There were cries to allow him to be elected to the Hall of Fame or name an award after him. But this should be Fernandezs lasting legacy: Keeping baseball fun again.Thats an important idea to understand in this most divisive of years. Watching the pregame ceremony at Marlins Park before Mondays game, I saw Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich, a black man and a white man, doing their pregame sprints together, both with red-rimmed eyes. I saw teammates from America, from Cuba, from Taiwan, from Japan, from the Dominican Republic, from Venezuela, all wearing jerseys with Fernandezs No. 16 on the backs. I saw Bonds, the son of a major leaguer, a man with his own large footprint on this game, crying as a high school choir sang the national anthem. I saw Dee Gordon, another son of a major leaguer, cry as he rounded the bases after impossibly leading off the game with his first homer of the season. I saw the Marlins place their hats on the mound after they had defeated the Mets.It was a team rallying around a kid who was born in Cuba, escaped to Mexico on a boat, made his way to Florida and became a baseball star with a movie-star smile. It was all a reminder that this game brings together players from all over the globe. They all bring their own codes, their own style of play, their own idea of flair. Its up to all of us -- players and fans -- to understand our differences, to understand there are different ways to play this game. That a bat flip is sometimes just a bat flip. That we can have Mark Fidrych talking to the baseball, Rickey Henderson making one-handed snatch catches, Dennis Eckersley pointing at batters after a strikeout, the Red Sox Idiots breaking a curse and Asdrubal Cabrera hitting a walk-off home run and throwing his bat like hes competing in the Olympic hammer throw. Its all baseball.I read somewhere -- sorry, forgot who wrote it, but it was a good line -- that Fernandez was one of those players kicking and screaming to bring baseball into the 21st century. Theres something to that, although as Jeff Passan of Yahoo wrote, Fernandez had a blissful ability to take neither himself nor what he was doing too seriously.In other words: Have some fun. It is, after all, just a game. Yeezy Boost China Cheap . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. 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No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Marylands Brionna Jones got into a rhythm early and never slowed down against overmatched St. Peters.Jones scored 19 of her career-high 30 points in the first half and the No. 4 Terrapins remained unbeaten with a 101-49 victory over the Peacocks on Thursday night.I was just taking what was given to me, Jones said. My teammates were finding me when I was open. I was just working hard on every possession. I was definitely surprised that there wasnt a double-team coming.The Terrapins (10-0) are playing a stretch of five games over 12 days. However, coach Brenda Frese has kept the team fresh because of her deep bench. In the process, Frese has gotten contributions from her entire roster.Shatori Walker-Kimbrough added 16 points, Brianna Fraser had 13, and the Terrapins had a season-low six turnovers.I thought we started slow defensively and we looked sluggish from the games and practices weve had, Frese said. Obviously, we played through (Jones). I dont think they had an answer for her. I thought our bench-depth played with a lot of energy.Brianna Tarabocchia led St. Peters (1-7) with 11 points.St. Peters lost its first six games by an average of 29 points. However, the Peacocks stayed close early and a pair of free throws by Talah Hughes tied it at 13 in the final minute of the opening quarter.St. Peters tried to maintain possession until there were just a few seconds left on the shot clock to keep the ball away from Maryland. The strategy worked for a spell before the Terrapins wore them down.I think Maryland is very deceptive from watching them on film and then seeing them live, St. Peters coach Pat Coyle said. Theyre much quicker and more physical. What I like about their team is they dont do anything complicated. TThey just get the ball to their scorers.ddddddddddddA 3-pointer by Walker-Kimbrough capped a 19-3 run and the Terrapins led 32-16 with 6:02 left in the half. Maryland continued to pull away and the lead ballooned to 51-25 at the break.The Terrapins shot 61 percent from the field and their backups outscored the Peacocks reserves 13-2.Marylands starters returned for the second half and consecutive baskets by Jones increased the margin to 62-29. Jones was 14 of 16 from the field in just 20 minutes and made the game easier for her team.As guards, we dont have to force anything up, Marylands Ieshia Small said. We know we can always look inside for her and depend on her to finish the play all of the time.Frese then went back to the bench to close out the game. Kiah Gillespie also had 10 points for Maryland.It was just the second meeting between the schools. St. Peters beat Maryland 66-61 in the first matchup on Dec. 30, 1997.INCREASED PRESSUREMaryland forced 28 turnovers with his its high-pressure defense. That led to 46 points.BIG PICTURESt. Peters: The Peacocks snapped a 21-game losing streak dating back to last year with a win over Marist on Sunday. Still, St. Peters is 1-1 in the MAAC and is getting battle-tested with its tough schedule.Maryland: The Terrapins have won six of their 10 games by at least 40 points. Maryland is deep and talented, showing signs of a Final Four-caliber team. The biggest test arrives Dec. 29 with a home game against No. 1 Connecticut.UP NEXTSt. Peters: The Peacocks are at St. Francis Brooklyn on Sunday.Maryland: The Terrapins make a 38-mile trip to Baltimore to face Loyola on Monday. ' ' '