Baseball Mourns the Death of Prospect Oscar Taveras
This May 31, 2014 file photo shows St. Louis Cardinals' Oscar Taveras smiling after the Cardinals' 2-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants in St. Louis.
Oscar Taveras was going to be a star.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Taveras was considered one of baseball’s top prospects, consistently ranked among the best young players in the game. At 22 years old, Taveras had smoked through the St. Louis Cardinals’ minor league system. Thirty home run seasons and All-Star Game appearances seemed to lay ahead.
But instead of celebrating Taveras’ potential Sunday, the baseball world was mourning his death after the outfielder was killed in a car accident alongside his girlfriend, Edilia Arvelo, 18.
Details of the crash aren’t fully known. Photographs from the accident site in the Dominican Republic showed his 2014 Chevrolet Camaro -- bright, bold Cardinals red -- twisted and bent, the front end crushed in, the surface dented and pressed like it was struck repeatedly with a hammer.
Baseball has had other fatal accidents in recent memory. Nick Adenhart. Josh Hancock. Brian Cole. Mike Darr. And now, Oscar Francisco Taveras.
Taveras grew up learning how to hit anything.
He honed his batting talent using a broomstick as a bat, hitting water jug caps. His dad -- a former professional player himself, in the Milwaukee Brewers system -- would pitch him corn kernels,according to a 2012 St. Louis Post-Dispatch profile. Suddenly, hitting a baseball wasn’t so hard. Taveras gained a reputation as an all-fields, bad-ball hitter similar to star player Vladimir Guerrero.
His swing displayed fluidity, balance and upper-cut strength, drawing comparisons to Ken Griffey Jr.’s batting style.
The Cardinals, spotting his talent, signed Taveras at age 16 in 2008. He made his stateside debut two seasons later, splitting time between the Johnson City and Gulf Coast League Cardinals. Taveras showcased his potential at low-A Quad Cities in 2011, smacking 40 extra-base hits and leading the league with a .386 average.
Few young players hit .386 in the minor leagues. The gaudy stats earned Taveras an invitation to the Arizona Fall League and, the following year, spring training with the Cardinals. Albert Pujols, then a superstar slugger with St. Louis, reached out to the prospect.
“I’m looking forward to seeing good things from you,” Pujols told Taveras, giving him a bat, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Taveras followed through on the mentor’s assessment, establishing himself as the team’s top prospect in 2012 by helping Double-A Springfield to the Texas League title with a .321 average. He compiled 67 extra-base hits that year and struck out just 56 times.
An ankle injury kept Taveras from a Major League call-up in 2013. But after a hot start at Triple-A Memphis in 2014, Taveras earned his big league promotion. Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz addressed the hype around Taveras when he reached the big leagues.
“So much had been said, written, shouted. It seemed a bit over the top. But it wasn’t. Some prospects are worthy of the blaring trumpets,” he wrote.
Taveras showcased his big league potential during his first game, on May 31 against the Giants.
In his second MLB at-bat, with raindrops falling, Taveras deposited the pitch from Yusmeiro Petit over the right field fence. People wearing Stan Musial jerseys cheered, expecting the start of something special.
Taveras jogged around the base paths, as if he’d done this a million times before, and pointed skyward after crossing home plate.
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