ESPN and USA Today reported late on Monday that one of baseball’s most promising young athletes, Oscar Taveras, passed away in a car accident. Taveras had just recently turned 22.
His girlfriend Edilia Arvelo was also lost in the crash, which took place near Taveras’ hometown in the Dominican Republic. Details of the accident haven’t been released, but police at the scene of the accident said that Taveras lost control of the car.
Jeff Roberson / AP Photo
The executive director of the MLB Players Association Tony Clark issued a statement after the news broke, “We are very saddened to learn of the news that a car accident has claimed the life of Oscar Taveras and his girlfriend in the Dominican Republic.”
“Oscar had a very promising future, on-and-off the field and this news is heartbreaking on many levels,” Tony Clark, MLB players’ association director, said in a USAToday.com article.
Clark continued, “It’s never easy to lose a member of our fraternity and to lose one so young is devastating news. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of both, as well as to the St. Louis Cardinals organization and Oscar’s many fans in the United States and the Dominican Republic.”
MLB Commissioner “Bud” Selig found out about the accident during Game 5 of the 2014 World Series and said the game would be dedicated to Taveras and Arvelo.
The San Francisco Giants went on to win Game 5, the same Giants that eliminated Taveras and his St. Louis Cardinals teammates less than two weeks ago.
Brian Parsons, a senior at KSC said, “It’s real sad, he’s a top prospect at that level and he was going to be really good. Pure talent,” he added, “… [Taveras] Came from nothing and worked so hard, just to have it taken away.”
KSC student and MLB fan, Jared McFarland, also commented on Taveras’ passing, “It’s a tragedy to the MLB — he was supposed to be good.”
Taveras signed a contract with the Cardinals in 2008 when he was just 16 years old.
According to baseball-reference.com he played six seasons of minor league ball between the organization’s rookie level, A, AA and AAA teams.
Before the 2014 MLB season, BaseballAmerica.com and MLB.com both rated Taveras the number three prospect in all of baseball. He started the season on the Memphis Redbirds, the Cardinals’ AAA team, but it was expected he would make his MLB debut at some point during the regular season.
That chance came just a few months into the season, when Taveras made his MLB debut May 31 against the Giants.
According to MLB.com, Taveras hit a homerun in his second at-bat of the game off of starting pitcher Yusmeiro Petit. Highlights of the play on NBCsports.com showed the excitement of the crowd as rain poured down on their new franchise player. Taveras had arrived.
Taveras continued the season with his ups and downs and finished with an average of .239, with three home runs, 22 runs batted-in and 18 runs in 80 games of action, according to statistics on ESPN.com.
The statistics weren’t fantastic, but the potential of the young player was clear.
The Cardinals finished the season National League Central champions and eventually made it to the NLCS, facing off against the Giants.
Taveras stepped his game up when used as a pinch hitter in the playoffs to a tune of a .429 average. He hit a home run against the Giants in the Cardinals’ only win of the series.
If they ended up winning the series, the team would still be playing baseball right now. Jenn Ambrosini, another KSC senior, said, “It’s sad that he was so young, but it’s nice he managed to reach one of his dreams before passing away. Some people don’t get that chance.”
Taveras’ passing was tragic, especially because he was so young and unexpected. Taveras was a 22-year-old who just got a taste of the American Dream, only to have it taken away from him.
A humble reminder to never take life for granted.
“That’s wild, he was barely 22. I knew someone in high school that died in a crash the week after graduation. It’s so crazy to think he didn’t get to experience college or anything after high school,” KSC junior Kai Wilson said.
Skyler Frazer can be contacted at sfrazer@keene-equinox.com
