The San Francisco Giants community is mourning alongside former outfielder Gorkys Hernández after an unimaginable personal tragedy struck his family following the devastating twin earthquakes that rocked northern Venezuela.
Hernández’s wife, Deisy Tovar de Hernández, died when a luxury hotel in the coastal city of La Guaira collapsed after powerful 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes tore through the region on Wednesday. She was 36 years old and had been staying at the hotel while Gorkys’ Venezuelan Winter League team, the Dolphins, was preparing for a game.
Over the weekend, Hernández shared a heartbreaking tribute to his wife on Instagram in Spanish.
“You are and always will be the queen of my life — the most beautiful, lovely, and precious woman in the world,” Hernández wrote. “Love you — rest in peace, my girl. Give me strength, love of my life, because we had a mission, and I am here to fulfill it.”
He continued with another emotional message.
“You taught me to be strong through life’s challenges — which is never easy — but that is how you want me to be, and that is how it will be.”
The couple had been married for only six months. Deisy is survived by her daughter, Vittoria Vasquez, from a previous relationship.
Her passing comes as rescue workers continue combing through the destruction in search of survivors. By Sunday, the confirmed death toll had climbed to nearly 1,500, while thousands of people were still unaccounted for.
According to reports from Venezuela, several Dolphins players, team personnel, and family members remain missing beneath the ruins of the Hotel Eduard’s in La Guaira. Relatives of former Giants catcher Eliézer Alfonzo are also among those still missing.
The tragedy has affected several members of the Giants organization.
Moments after rookie outfielder Victor Bericoto delivered a dramatic two-out walk-off home run against the Athletics on Wednesday, he learned that his brother Jose’s girlfriend had died in the earthquakes. Her identity has not been released out of respect for her family’s privacy.
“It’s been difficult to process,” Bericoto previously told the Chronicle through a team translator. “I’m sure that a lot of us were not able to sleep all night because we were trying to wait for news.”
Giants reliever José Buttó also revealed that the disaster has deeply impacted people he knows personally.
“I know a lot of the Dolphins’ players,” Buttó said. As of Thursday morning, two of his friends had been located safely, while another was still missing. “I’m just hoping they find him.”
In response to the devastating earthquakes, Major League Baseball has authorized Venezuelan players and staff members to wear “VZ” patches stitched onto their caps to honor the victims and their families.
The Giants have maintained a strong connection to Venezuela for decades through their player development system. Currently, nine of the organization’s top 30 prospects were born in the country.
A native of Güiria, Venezuela, Hernández, now 38, spent parts of his major league career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins before signing a minor league contract with the Giants on Oct. 23, 2015.
He earned a promotion to San Francisco in August 2016 after Gregor Blanco suffered an injury while playing for Triple-A Sacramento. Hernández enjoyed the best season of his six-year MLB career with the Giants in 2018, batting .234 with 15 home runs, 40 RBIs, 52 runs scored, and eight stolen bases across 142 games.