Fernandez was on fire at the start of the 1940 season. In 59 games he was batting .345 and had slugged seven home runs when he was called up to the Pacific Coast League’s San Francisco Seals amid an air of publicity.
“It may sound silly, on the basis of so short acquaintance,” declared the Eugene Register-Guard on June 25, 1940, “but San Francisco fans are hailing Froilan Fernandez as the savior of the Seals – all because of one day’s play in the Pacific Coast League.
“Fernandez . . . was so badly needed that he was flown to San Francisco for his Sunday debut. He hit four for eight, including a triple, in the doubleheader and handled 13 fielding chances with a speed and snap the Seals infield has long lacked.”
In 95 games with the Seals, Fernandez batted .304 and quickly replaced Harvey Storey as the team’s starting shortstop. In 1941, Fernandez led the league with a .327 average and 129 RBIs, 46 doubles and 16 triples. His 19 home runs was second best in the circuit and prompted his purchase by the Boston Braves in September.
Fernandez immediately took over the starting shortstop position for the big league club and batted .255 in 145 games. His career was then put on hold when military service called on April 14, 1943. He served with the 6th Ferrying Group of Air Transport Command at Long Beach Army Air Base in California, and played baseball regularly. His teammates included Red Ruffing, Harry Danning and Max West. Fernandez hit in 44 straight games during 1943 and on August 26, 1944, he went 2-for-4 in a 16-6 win for the Servicemen All-Stars against the combined Pacific Coast League Los Angeles and Hollywood teams at Wrigley Field. Los Angeles.
In 1945, Corporal Fernandez was one of 48 players chosen to embark on a baseball exhibition tour of Pacific islands. Representing bombardment wings of the 20th Air Force the three teams were the 58th Bombardment Wing Wingmen, led by Tigers’ catcher Birdie Tebbetts; the 73rd Bombardment Wing Bombers, managed by Buster Mills of the Cleveland Indians; and the team Fernandez played for, the 313th Bombardment Wing Flyers, managed by Lew Riggs of the Dodgers.
The teams were sent to Tinian and Saipan to help boost the morale of troops stationed on the islands. Tinian and Saipan are both in the Mariana Islands and American forces invaded both in mid-1944 and immediately began construction of what came to be the world’s largest airfield for the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers of the 20th Air Force. The B-29s had previously been stationed in mainland China, but supplying them with adequate fuel was a logistic nightmare. The Marianas were seized to stage airborne strategic bombing of the Japanese homeland, about 1,500 miles northwest of the Marianas.
The 313th Flyers team was based at North Field on Tinian, along with the 58th Wingmen, who were at West Field, while the 73rd Bombers were at Isley Field on Saipan. When the ballplayers arrived they helped engineers in the construction work of ball fields.
The three teams played a round-robin series of games starting at Tinian on July 27, 1945. During July and August, series were played on Saipan, Tinian and Guam, with one series being played on Iwo Jima – captured from the Japanese in March 1945 at a cost of 6,821 American lives, including Philadelphia Athletics’ catcher Harry O’Neill and minor league players Jack Lummus, Bob Holmes, Jack Nealy and Frank Ciaffone.
Fernandez returned from military service on January 10, 1946. He was back with the Braves that year and batted .255 (exactly the same average he had in 1942, his last season before military service) in 115 games as a backup to Dick Culler. In 1947, his average dropped to .206 and he was back in the minor leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers of the Class AAA American Association in 1948, batting .318 in 152 games as an outfielder.
The Braves sold Fernandez to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949 and he started the season with the St. Paul Saints of the Class AAA American Association. In May 1949, the Dodgers traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates and he joined the Indianapolis Indians where he earned MVP honors with a .312 average, 21 home runs and 128 RBIs, playing the outfield and third base.
Fernandez shifted to third base full time in 1950 and made it back to the major leagues with the Pirates, playing 65 games as a backup to Stan Rojek. He was back with Indianapolis in 1951 and then played from 1952 to 1955 in the Pacific Coast League with Seattle and Sacramento.
Following his baseball career, Fernandez was a longshoreman for 30 years and retired as a marine clerk in the longshoreman's union.
Nanny Fernandez passed away on September 16, 1996 at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Harbor City, California. He was 77 years old and is buried at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
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