Oscar Taveras

Oscar Francisco Taveras (June 19, 1992 October 26, 2014) was a Dominican professional baseball outfielder who played one season for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Known as "El Fenómeno" (Spanish for "The Phenomenon") in the Dominican Republic, the Cardinals signed him at age 16 in 2008 as an international amateur free agent and he made his MLB debut in 2014. Over six minor league seasons, he batted .321 with a .519 slugging percentage. He played all three outfield positions while spending most of the time in center field.

As a batter, Taveras was a consensus top-five minor league prospect in 2013 and 2014. He elicited comparisons to former MLB outfielder and fellow Dominican Vladimir Guerrero—with a powerful, balanced stroke, Taveras successfully hit pitches well outside of the strike zone. Also similar to Guerrero, he possessed a strong and accurate throwing arm. The outfielder was the recipient of a litany of awards and won batting titles in two minor leagues, including hitting .386 for the Midwest League title in 2011. The next year, he won the Texas League batting title and was the Texas League Player of the Year and Cardinals organization Player of the Year.

On May 31, 2014, Taveras homered in his major league debut against the San Francisco Giants and went on to hit .239 in 80 regular season games, playing mostly right field. He also hit a game-tying home run in Game 2 of the 2014 National League Championship Series against the Giants. On October 26, 2014, he died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic shortly after the Cardinals were eliminated from the playoffs.

Early life Originally from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Oscar Taveras grew up in a town called Sosúa. He began taking interest in baseball early in life. According to his father, Francisco Taveras, at about age five, he started to call himself "El Fenómeno," which is Spanish for "The Phenomenon". "He would say, 'I'm going to make you the happiest dad in the world. I want to be a star. I want to be a major leaguer. I'm the phenomenon. I'm the best,'" recounted his father.

Taveras' father was an outfielder in the Milwaukee Brewers' minor league system. Taveras lived in Montreal from ages 12 to 16 and obtained Canadian citizenship. Afterwards, he returned to the Dominican Republic; had he stayed in Canada, he would have entered the draft after high school.

Professional career Minor leagues DSL Cardinals, Johnson City, and Quad Cities (2009–11)

The St. Louis Cardinals signed Taveras as an international amateur free agent on November 25, 2008 for $145,000. They assigned him to the rookie league Dominican Summer League Cardinals the next season. Although he hit just .265 with one home run (HR) and 42 runs batted in (RBI) in 65 games, Taveras earned a promotion to the Johnson City Cardinals of the Rookie-level Appalachian League in 2010. The talent which scouts had discovered in the Dominican Republic quickly actualized, as he hit .322 with eight HR and 43 RBI in 53 games.

Taveras earned another promotion to the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Class A Midwest League (MWL) in 2011 and spent the entire season there. From May 11 to June 11, he was out of action due to a hamstring injury. Despite missing a full month, his hitting continued to improve by obtaining 33 multi-hit games, 17 three-hit contests and five four-hit games. Further, he earned two MWL Player of the Week (PoW) awards. The first was for the week of July 17, after batting .600 (15 hits in 25 at bats) with five multi-hit games, 10 runs scored and five RBI.

The second PoW award Taveras earned with the River Bandits was for the week ending August 28. He batted .581 (18–31) with another five multi-hit games, two home runs and 11 RBI. That week, he also achieved three three-hit games and two four-hit games. After coming off the bench in the August 28 game against Burlington, he went 3-for-3 with a home run and missed hitting for the cycle by a double. and ranked him 74th in all of baseball. The Cardinals assigned him to play for the Springfield Cardinals of the Class AA Texas League. He spent the entire season there, playing 124 games before participating in winter league play.

Selected to the Texas League All-Star team, Taveras started in center field and batted fourth. His 3-for-4, home run, double and two-RBI effort helped earn him unanimous Most Valuable Player honors for the game. He also played in the Major League Baseball All-Star Futures Game for the World squad. He started in right field and batted third, collecting one hit in three at-bats. He ended the season with a 22-game on-base streak that spanned from August 4 to September 3. Taveras logged 43 multi-hit games, including 12 three-hit games, five four-hit games and one five-hit game. In his 124 total games, he played 93 in center field, 15 in right and one in left. He hit safely in 94 games and reached base in 107. He batted .346 (47 of 136) with eight HR and 72 RBI with runners in scoring position (RISP) and .321 with RISP and two outs, including 17 RBI. He also hit .372 (73 of 196) with 12 HR and 49 RBI in the sixth inning and later.

Further, Taveras led all Cardinals minor leaguers in hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, SLG and on-base plus slugging (.953), while also finishing in the top five in batting average and runs. MLB.com also ranked Taveras as the Cardinals' number-one prospect, and the number-three prospect in its Top 50 Prospects. Prior to the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Taveras' agent was approached about him playing for the Canadian national baseball team. The Cardinals promoted him to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League.

In each game from May 6–10, Taveras collected at least one RBI. He batted .362 with 17 hits in 47 at bats for the month of May. Surgery to correct the sprain, performed by Dr. Robert Anderson, ended his season in August.

St. Louis Cardinals (2014) Beginning in the 2014 season, MLB.com ranked Taveras as the second-best prospect in all of MLB, behind only Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins organization. The Cardinals invited him to spring training. Although team officials believed that his ankle had fully healed in time for 2014 spring training, he hesitated to fully trust the ankle in performance. A hamstring injury followed, limiting him to just six at-bats. The Cardinals optioned him to minor league camp on March 14.

On May 30, 2014, the Cardinals called Taveras up to their MLB roster in one of the most anticipated promotions in all MLB. He became the first from Sosúa to reach the major leagues. Taveras was held hitless in consecutive games just once. In 209 plate appearances, he walked just 14 times, but also struck out just 25 for a 12.1% strikeout rate.

Taveras hit his first MLB single the next day, June 1. When Matt Adams came off the DL June 19, Taveras' 22nd birthday, the Cardinals optioned him back to Memphis after batting .189 with a .225 OBP and .297 SLG in 40 PA. Despite the low rate statistics, he showed a marked ability to get contact on MLB pitching. His contact rate of 92.3% on pitches outside of the strike zone surpassed the MLB average of 65.7% for all non-pitchers. His miss rate of 2.5% on swinging strikes was significantly lower than the MLB average of 9.1%.

One month after his first call-up, the Cardinals recalled Taveras on June 30. He was batting .318 with a .502 SLG at Memphis. To allow him more playing opportunities, the Cardinals traded slumping incumbent right fielder Allen Craig to the Boston Red Sox on the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. His first career three-hit game was on September 7 against the Milwaukee Brewers. That series, he played three of the four games, collecting five hits in eight at-bats with a home run and four RBI. It was one of eight multi-hit games on the year. Taveras finished the 2014 season with a batting average of .239 in 80 major league games. He appeared on the postseason roster for the Cardinals, playing exclusively as a pinch hitter, and collected three hits and two runs scored in seven total at bats. His postseason debut was in the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. One hit was a home run that tied the score in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Giants, the only game the Cardinals won in the series; as it turned out, it was the final hit in his career. His final tweet was "Thanks for all the fan support!" on October 13.

With a wide batting stance and slight leg kick that "allows him to maintain both incredible balance and timing", he shifted his weight on his left (back) leg "before connecting with the ball with an explosive, quick swing." His combination of strong, quick hands and excellent hand-eye coordination allowed him to assert considerable bat control to make constant, square contact with the incoming pitch. With an ability to drive the ball to all fields, his power ceiling was high, projected with 25 to 30 home runs in his peak. His preparation also received high marks. on the Sosúa-Cabarete freeway in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. His new red 2014 Chevrolet Camaro had gone off the road at high speed, hitting a tree.

Taveras suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at Sosúa Cabarete Medical Center. Arvelo suffered injuries to the head and to the chest.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny stated, "There is not a more accurate word ("love") for how a group of men share a deep and genuine concern for each other. We loved Oscar, and he loved us. That is what a team does. That is what a family does." Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig stated, "With heavy hearts, tonight we play Game 5 of the 2014 World Series in the memory of these two young people."

Aftermath and legacy Observances on behalf of Arvelo and Taveras and a moment of silence were held before Game 6 of the World Series, before the first pitch. Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura wrote "R.I.P. O.T #18" on his hat along with other tributes on his cleats and glove. His hat was turned in for display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. (Ventura himself died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic less than three years later.) On October 28, the Cardinals left the right field lights on at Busch Stadium and released a Twitter photo of the scene the next day.

More than an estimated 5,000 gathered for Taveras's funeral in Sosúa, including around 40 who gathered on the rooftop of a cemetery church. Many of the mourners wore jerseys with "El Fenómeno" printed on their backs. "He was like Superman here. He was here to uplift kids and put the town on the map. He was the hope," said teammate Carlos Martínez. Taveras had left behind a one-year-old son, Oscar Yadier Taveras. After the second alcohol-related fatality to a Cardinals player in a decade, following that of Josh Hancock in 2007, John Mozeliak lamented the circumstances of the player's death. He declared that the team would take a greater role in educating young players to "avoid reckless actions".

In January 2015, DeWitt announced plans for the Cardinals to renovate a baseball field in Sosúa in Taveras's honor, modeled after the Cardinals Care facilities in Greater St. Louis. The team would also wear black circular patches inscribed with OT (Taveras's initials) inside a white circle on their jerseys. The patch omitted Taveras's No. 18 because Carlos Martínez wore it as his uniform number as a tribute. A large decal in his memorial was posted in the home team bullpen of Busch Stadium along with the ones of Hancock and former pitcher Darryl Kile, who died of coronary artery disease during the 2002 season while still active. Minor leagues All-Star

2010 (Appalachian League), 2012 midseason and postseason (Texas League) Cardinals organization Player of the Month

July 2011, April 2012, June 2012 Texas League Player of the Year

2012 Texas League top prospects

2012 (#2) Texas League "Most Exciting Player"

2012 Texas League "Best Batting Prospect"

2012 Midwest League Player of the Week

July 11–17, 2011 and August 22–28, 2011 Baseball America Minor league All-Star

2012 Topps Texas League Player of the Year

2012 Topps Double-A All-Star

2012 The Cardinal Nation/Scout.com Top Prospect

2011 (#11), 2012 (#3), 2013 (#1), 2014 (#1)