More unfortunate details have emerged surrounding the fatal car accident last month that took the lives of St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Oscar Taveras and his girlfriend. An official in the Dominican Republic informed the Associated Press that Taveras was “legally intoxicated” at the time of the crash.
More, from the AP’s Dionisio Soldevila:
"Tessie Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the Dominican attorney general’s office, told the Associated Press toxicology reports showed Taveras had a blood-alcohol five times the country’s legal limit when he lost control of his car October 26 on a highway in the tourist region of Puerto Plata."
The sudden passing of Taveras came as a shock to the baseball world when it was reported just hours before Game 5 of the World Series. The 22 year old was considered to be among the game’s top young prospects, despite a relatively uninspiring rookie season. Signed as an amateur free agent in 2008 as a teenager, Taveras had been named to Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect list three times – including coming is as the #3 prospect in baseball prior to each of the past two seasons. In six seasons in the minor leagues Taveras would bat a collective .320/.376/.516.
He’d finally make his debut for the Cardinals this past May, appearing in 80 games in which he batted .239/.278/.312 over 248 plate appearances.
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak declined to comment directly on the AP’s story, instead releasing a simple statement from the organization:
"Until we have the opportunity to review the official report, we cannot confirm details. While we are still working to obtain the facts, it won’t change the fact that this is a terrible tragedy. We have an obligation to use this as an opportunity to educate our players that they must take responsibility for themselves both on and off the field."
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St. Louis has long had a policy prohibiting alcohol in their clubhouse, following the 2007 death of Josh Hancock in what proved to also be a drunk driving related incident. Further educating players as they climb through the organization can and will certainly help their young players prepare better to handle situations off the field, but there are some things that the organization simply can’t control during a player’s offseason activities. Accidents will happen and in the end, that’s what this was.
Taveras’ death was a truly tragic event, regardless of these new details, but there’s hope that somehow he can be an example for others in the game – and beyond it – to do everything they can not to drink and drive.