Oscar Taveras: 1992 – 2014
Oscar Taveras died Sunday in a car crash in the Dominican Republic, at the age of 22. His girlfriend, 18-year-old Edilia Arvelo, also died in the crash. News was confirmed by Dionisio Soldevila, and according to the USA Today, Taveras had been driving home to the town of Sosua. The St. Louis Cardinals have released a statement, as have Bud Selig and Tony Clark of the MLBPA.
Two weeks ago, Taveras hit a dramatic pinch-hit home run in the National League Championship Series. As we’re confronted by the senselessness of untimely death, it’s within that fact that one might find the slightest hint of consolation. Taveras had long been linked to the words “great potential,” as a professional and as an individual. There was thought to be no limit to what Taveras might one day achieve. While his is a future that will sadly forever remain unwritten, Taveras lived a life of great achievement. At an extraordinarily young age, he reached and established himself within the highest level of his work, and he was recognized as one of the very best young talents in the world. Taveras achieved what most only dream of, the result of a lifetime of practice and discipline. A short life can still be a life fully lived.
Taveras, like all players, was also more than his job. We know him only as a player, reducing him to something unfairly one-dimensional, but we can’t know the details of his life beyond the field, nor are we entitled to such. We know only that two families are grieving, as Taveras died beside his partner. There is no way for that sentence to sufficiently sink in. It’s not just you; it’s a sentence we aren’t wired to understand. It’s a sentence that’s simply too mournful to fathom.
The news touches everyone differently. Your response is unique to you, and you cope however you see fit. Perhaps you feel shame, thinking more of Taveras than of Arvelo. Perhaps you ponder why these deaths should feel different from the rest of the world’s relentless death. Perhaps you wonder why you’re overthinking this; perhaps you wonder why you’re not. There is no established psychological routine for dealing with the sudden loss of a life that you know or know of. Dwell for however long you choose to dwell. Reflect for however long you choose to reflect. And when you have a moment — and you always have a moment — reach out to a loved one and share a hug or a laugh or a bowl of gelato. The point is to love and to do good things.
Oscar Taveras lived a life and left a mark, which is precisely what he always had the potential to do. May the families find warmth in winter.
Jeff made Lookout Landing a thing, but he does not still write there about the Mariners. He does write here, sometimes about the Mariners, but usually not.
RIP Oscar.
Just going to leave this here:
http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/vtp_nlcs/v36800103/nlcs-gm2-taveras-hits-pinchhit-gametying-home-run/?c_id=mlb
RIP Edilia
RIP Oscar
I’m glad you got the chance to hit a home run in the Postseason. That’s more than most Big Leaguers can say.
Word.
There are one or two future MVP trophies someone else will be able to enjoy now.
#OT18
Well said, Jeff.
Oscar Taveras in May: “My time is coming. I’m only 21 years old.”
Taken way too soon.
R.I.P
Saddest part of this. I can’t fathom how hard this is hitting their families, both my kids are about Taveras’s age.
R.I.P.
Words do not come easy when two people this young are taken. Pray for them both, bless their families
“For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!'”
These were among the first words to come to me, too.
Thank you for this write up. Several of these scenarios you described I have played through in my own mind. It reminds me these are normal responses to such a tragedy.
Well said, indeed, Jeff.
As often happens when you lose someone so randomly, it’s tough not to get lost in the what ifs. As a Giants fan, I wish we could go back and forfeit the NLCS games, let the Cardinals advance to the World Series and keep him out of that car.
As a Cards fan, I have to suggest that we both stop thinking about stuff like this. It’s probably true that losing the NLCS indirectly set him on this path, but there are thousands of things that could have prevented this specific outcome. We will go crazy if we try to make sense of the world being random and cruel.
Rest in peace, Oscar. I’m glad I got to see you accomplish so much, and I’m so saddened by the fact that I won’t get to see you play again.
I had this same thought, too. I’m starting to think this line of thought isn’t very healthy, though.
Cards fan here. My friend said something similar to me, and I’ll repeat what I said to him. You can’t think about it that way. People can go at any time, in any way. Just 7 years ago we lost Josh Hancock in a car accident after a ball game.
Giants and Royals players/fans shouldn’t let this take away from the accomplishment of reaching the World Series.
Thinking like that when someone passes isn’t healthy. When someone close to you dies in a tragic accident that could have been prevented there are literally billions of alternatives to that situation that could have occurred. If he had hit a red light, someone had stopped him to get an autograph, he forgot his wallet in the house, etc. we would be looking at a different situation. It’s best to mourn and not think about the what ifs.
As Joe Sheehan pointed out, Enrique Wilson – who played for the Yankees years ago – planned to head home to the Dominican Republic after the World Series victory parade in 2001. His team ended up losing the series, so he took an earlier flight home, and was thus spared being on board his scheduled flight – American Airlines 587 – which crashed and killed everyone on board.
The point is (to echo what others have said), you can go any time, any way. I’m a Cards fan, but the Giants helped me with my grief last night, as it was heartening to see that huge hit by Juan Perez – a good friend of Taveras and his family. It was a small comfort, but a real one. And although it’s kind of you, Colin, to want to reconnect the dots some other way, all we can really do is make connections out of what we have in the here and now.
Beautifully written article, Jeff.
This is my first season of really following prospects outside of my team, so this hit me much harder than Adenhart’s death did, because I knew about Taveras much more. I can’t speak for everyone here, but I know I tend to get so caught up in the numbers and statistics that I forget that these are human beings we’re dealing with. RIP Oscar.
~150,000 people die every day. A little less than two a second. This does not strike me as a particularly sorrowful instantiation of that pattern. We are ephemeral, delicate creatures.
It is certainly terrible for the victims’ loved ones, and I wish them the best.
Let your loved ones know they are loved, and make the most of your brief run.
“This does not strike me as a particularly sorrowful instantiation of that pattern.”
If you believe that, that’s perfectly fine with me. But, this being a baseball site, it should seem quite obvious why someone would see it as particularly sorrowful. The context within you put this belief makes you seem dismissive of how these people feel. I don’t think you meant for it to be perceived this way, but this specific article is not the appropriate place for this sentiment.
I didn’t say anything about anyone else. I think it is a perfectly appropriate place for this sentiment as it is just as true as the other sentiments expressed. There is no one way to deal with death. It is terrible and it gets us all.
Everyone in the WS tonight is going to die, everyone at the game is going to die. That is the human condition. It shouldn’t take a car crash to remind people of that.
I’ll repeat myself:
1) The inappropriateness of your post has nothing to do with its truthfulness.
2) It is inappropriate because you are dismissing other people feeling for his death right now more than other people. You said verbatim, “This does not strike me as a particularly sorrowful instantiation of that pattern.”
If you had left out that quote from above, I would have no problem with your comment. But by saying that, the comment becomes wildy insensitive. The fact that you said that you would not have said that to his immediate family shows that even you are aware of its insensitivity. As this is a tribute to Oscar Taveras’ life, you absolutely should treat it like you would a funeral.
I said “This does not strike ME..”, it seems odd you think that was particularly directed at other people.
The second to last graph in specifically seems a direct meditation on the various ways this death could be reacted to.
Personally one of my main reactions is to look at it in the broader context of the daily ebb and flow of human life. I realize others want to see more. But that isn’t the ONLY way to look at it.
Your view of your comments are incredibly dense. If you can read English, please read what I just wrote:
IF YOU HAD LEFT OUT THAT QUOTE FROM ABOVE (“This does not strike me as a particularly sorrowful instantiation of that pattern”), I WOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH YOUR COMMENT.
It has nothing to do with it merely being your opinion. it has to do with you trivializing the death of this person.
Stop being such an willfully-ignorant asshole.
Jeff wrote:
“The news touches everyone differently. Your response is unique to you, and you cope however you see fit.”
“There is no established psychological routine for dealing with the sudden loss of a life that you know or know of.”
If you accept what Jeff shared above, there is no “normal”, there is no normative superiority to how one copes with death. I interpreted Joshua as trying to contextualize death, and was callous with his words in that one sentence. Yes, I fundamentally agree that an online memorial is not the best location to express this sentiment. Predictably, the Internet begins to abuse him, stating that this is such an appropriate place for Joshua’s philosophical sentiments that he deserves ridicule and shaming. Then he defends himself when aggressively attacked. Awesome!
Paul claims people need to behave as if this is a funeral. Would people publicly, verbally attack Joshua at a funeral? I’m not sure. In my mind, one cannot have it both ways–citing the insensitivity of Joshua’s comment BECAUSE of the context and then acting in a way that is antithetical to how you yourself would behave in the same context (a funeral.)
If someone decided to speak at a funeral and said, “This does not strike me as a particularly sorrowful instantiation of that pattern,” I would absolutely say something when I had the chance.
And if that person continued by saying, “It’s just my opinion, so I should be able to express it even if it trivializes the person who died DURING the funeral for him,” I would absolutely continue to try to get that person to shut up.
So you would have a public argument with him where you called him an asshole? Ok…
I have been to funerals where someone needed to be “ushered out”. It is awkward, but it is less awkward than sitting there quietly while an idiot blathers on and on insulting the dead or the people grieving for them.
As have I (usually alcohol is involved). That is not what happened here.
I have never been to a funeral where a party stood up, argued with, and eventually berated and swore at someone making inappropriate comments. I have been at funerals where, silently as possible, said individual is removed in a discrete manner with more civility than could have been expected. I think I know why. Funerals are not a place for ego.
If you’ll notice, Mike, I tried to be civil first. When he refused to acquiesce, then I used the stronger language.
you been to a funeral where a person gave an extremely insensitive speech; other people politely tried to get him to stop (I have to use words on a website, I can’t quietly usher him out); that person continued on with his insensitive speech despite it being made clear to him that his speech was offending many people in the audience?
That was the situation, not your false analogy. I physically can’t usher him out of here through my computer; my only resort was through comments. My first comment was as polite as possible. My second comment was as polite as possible. By the third comment, it was clear that he was being obstinate.
A more apt analogy might be him giving the speech; I try to usher him away; he refuses and continues with the speech; I again try to usher him away; he refuses again and continues; finally, I have to drag him away so the funeral can continue undisturbed.
Hi Paul. I agree that Joshua’s insensitivity was pretty flagrant and his following comments aloof. My umbrage is really with your last comments to him, which I felt crossed the line. Personally, I felt like you had made your point, and the name-calling was unnecessary and intended to psychologically wound. That makes me deeply uncomfortable.
Yes. I have been in that situation. I and three other people have ushered a person “outta there” during a funeral. They were drunk and vindictive over a will. We said nothing to the attendees as we physically removed that person.
I do think the funeral analogy breaks down; this post and associated comment section are not like a funeral. I’m not sure what the implications of that are… perhaps it makes the comment section here a place with weaker social norms and/or expectations? Whatever they are, I also do not think you can justify the escalation of your comments by claiming one should behave as if we are attending a funeral–that is a specious claim.
Thanks Nietzsche, I’ll be sure to try this winner at the next funeral I attend.
Well we are not at a funeral are we? We are on a website.
Particularly a site dedicated to analytically looking at things in a less traditional/emotional manner.
In addition, keeping in mind that life is precious helps people deal with funerals, since they seem less shocking. Certainly if I thought any of their loved ones were likely reading this particular article I would have expressed nothing but my deepest sympathies.
Get over yourself already.
Fuck you Joshua and your shitty agenda
Are there mods out there? This really needs to go.
Why? Because it’s written insensitively? It’s not prejudiced or hateful or obscene, it’s just a touch dickish. I’m actually really disappointed at the way everyone’s piling on this guy for expressing an unpopular opinion. Downvote it since you disagree, but I see no reason his comment needs to be censored.
His opinion is “who cares who died? This is a STATS WEBSITE”. Well, his actual opinion is “quick, there’s an opportunity to be a troll!”
Trolls, and people who defend them with some awful “free speech” comment, are poison to websites.
Fangraphs is better than most websites when it comes to idiots, but you can’t get rid of all of them unfortunately.
Mark L.: Those who would deny non-criminal, non-obscene free speech to others because they don’t like the other people’s opinions are the enemies of not just free speech but freedom itself.
Disagree with something someone says? Refute it. Mock it. Downvote it.
Censorship of free speech is for totalitarians and cowards.
all fear the totalitarian and cowardly website fangraphs.com
Johnston, perhaps I don’t want to waste my limited time on this earth (what this article is about, after all) refuting, mocking or downvoting someone whose only desire is to annoy others. Whatever anyone says, trolls don’t care.
If you’d like to witness what the truly free unfettered internet would look like, feel free to spend some time at 4chan. I’m neither a totalitarian or a coward, I’m just bored of the millionth iteration of this utterly pointless argument.
i don’t think a certain administrative modulation of good taste in discussion of a tragedy really qualifies as freedom-endangering censorship on a first amendment kinda level.
but i also really don’t think dude is trolling. his opinion is a little off key from everyone else’s but it looks perfectly sincere to me.
Mortimer: I, too, have been to 4chan. And worse places (yes, they exist). Posting an unpopular but legitimate opinion has nothing to do with what goes on in those places, and you know it. I am ashamed for you that you would even make the comparison.
Someone posted an unpopular opinion, and defended it logically. OMG. The horror.
Get over yourselves. Other people have the right to hold and express opinions that differ from the mainstream.
No, it does not. Yes, it’s a bit insensitive, but insensitivity is insufficient grounds for censorship.
What do you think downvotes are for?
Are you interested in the content of the article at all?
It’s just that you’ve yet to post a single word about what the article is about, being more interested in defending the right of a troll to stomp over an article about someone’s death.
I think his death was a senseless tragedy. Happy now?
Now how about you returning the favor and defending the right of people to post unpopular opinions?
Joshua, please never become a grief counselor.
Cicero had a story about a father, unmoved by his son’s death, who said, “I was already aware that I had begotten a mortal.” Never could much relate to that father, nor to Joshua’s post.
Call me crazy, but this has actually turned into a very interesting discussion/rant/argument about the various reactions people could/should/do have at the death of another person and when/where/how they should happen.
Well done. I sometimes get so caught up in this game that I lose sight of the fact that these guys aren’t numbers, sample sizes, splits, and trends. They are kids, dads, sons, brothers, and mostly just regular guys trying to make it while we all bite our nails and critique every move they make. For a brief moment, we can all simply mourn a horrible loss from a distance, and try our best to empathize with what those who know and love Oscar Taveras.
You bring up a very good point, nick. when you get so deep into the numbers as we often do on this site, it can sometimes be hard to remember that these guys have far more value to this world than how many runs they create or prevent.
well said jeff, this summed up my sentiments perfectly. my thoughts are with the families.
Wow, Jeff. It’s hard to write about this stuff well and stay tactful, but you did a great job.
God this hit me hard, and I’m an A’s fan. I first began my dive deeper into baseball analytics and management with OOTP13. Taveras was always a trade target of mine, as he would consistently hit .330 or higher with like 25-40 bombs a year. Now, I know that’s just a video game, but the sky was the limit for this kid. Let this be a reminder to all of us that these men are more than WAR and wOBA and SIERRA. Let us remember that they are men with families who have worked incredibly hard their entire lives to get to where they are today. RIP, Oscar.
Gah, Jeff, you put things I’m feeling into better words than I can about things that are silly, and you succeed here with something that isn’t. Thanks for that.
It is odd. We are all men of numbers and stats. We learns the risks of lung cancer,drugs, or HIV. We learn to prevent them. But everyday most of use get behind the wheel of a car everyday. It is a societal requirement that costs more lives than smoking or HIV. Car accidents are the leading cause of death of those from 13-44. Suicide is #2. Maybe someday will have cars that drive themselves or won’t have to drive at all. Maybe someday we will treat mental health issues as seriously as they are. Lets keep working to that day for people like Oscar Tavares.
My biggest dear of dying is “What will I miss”. When I see someone like OT die, it can only make me thing about my own mortality(at a few months older than him) because I think how much I missed of them. Oscar Taraves was a potentially MVP in his career and in life. He will be missed. Let’s show our #want to live our lives to an 80-grade potential for Taraves.
I think if people realized how much safer driving would be with self-driving cars, we’d already have it. The reason we have so many accidents beyond negligence is our inability to always make the right split-second decision. Not only would the self-driving cars not put others in that position (something like braking out of no where), but they’d be able to react way better than any human in that position. As much as I like driving my car for leisure, I would happily give that up if I had to for almost guaranteed safety.
And I agree with you on the “what will I miss thing”. I know that the world is bigger than me which is why I want to know what happens when I’m gone, especially with my loved ones. It’s a scary thought.
The desire by consumers for something doesn’t mean that the something can be produced. What sentient human being wouldn’t want to cure cancer, but here we are in 2014 still using therapies that pre-date the assassination of President McKinley.
Google, with its market capitalization of nearly $400 billion, can’t make an autonomous car that can turn left safely, let alone adapt to changes in road conditions like snow or ice, or adjust to road construction that hasn’t been updated in its maps database. And the largest automobile manufacturers have had a hard time making a car that doesn’t occasionally blow up when one turns the ignition. I don’t think autonomous cars at a mass-produced level will be a reality in my lifetime. Perhaps something will be manufactured that costs roughly the same as a B-2 Bomber.
The real challange isn’t the software. It is that a Google Maps type project has to be undertaken that collects a stupid amount data on EVERY ROAD.
I think it is a problem in counties like the US that suffer from the plague of suburbs and urban sprawl. And poorer countries like the DR where the roads are terribly engineered,poorly lighten and traffic laws are nonexistent. India is terrifying to drive in for this reason
I was myself born in 92. I know for sure that I’m not ready to die yet. Crazy this game of life really is. Sure makes you think.
When your old enough and see enough death you realize its the natural order of things, especially for older folks like myself. However, life taken too young is never easy to take, and its harder when the one taken has such bright prospects, not just as a ball player but as a person.
“Death is just a part of life”. -Forrest Gump’s mother on her deathbed
OT18, Edilio Arvelo RIP
Well that wasn’t intended to be about me it was more of an attempt to provide an example of how young he was.
For some reason this seems strangely appropriate now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI9pllCxVNI&feature=youtu.be
I don’t know why I’m so upset right now.
Obviously a tragedy, and we all know of young persons who have died in car accidents and its always hard on the family and friends. Words from an internet stranger won’t help them much, but my best to his family and friends, and also his GF’s.
With reports that his car just ran off the road, and given the condition of the car indicating great speed, one wonders if alcohol was involved. We don’t know this is the case and I won’t assume it is.
However, hypothetically, if a MLB players DUI results in a fatality other than himself, and that will happen sooner or later unfortunately, what should MLB’s response be?. We give out 25 game suspensions for amphetamines, and longer ones for steroids, which are basically victimless crimes. Perhaps its time to do the same for DUI’s and domestic violence cases.
Hopefully, some positive change will come out of this. While we don’t know what happened, it is not uncommon for 22 yr olds to engage in higher risk activities. It could have been a lot of us at any given age and time. Yes, these athletes are in the public eye and maybe there should be consequences on the playing side, but they are also very human and make mistakes like the rest of us. The rash errors of judgement that are included with the package of being human is much different than calculated disregard for the rules and fairness of the game. Consequences through the legal system are there for those who break the law and clubs should deal w/ each case by case.
Just as we all wear seat belts now and don’t drink and drive as much as in the past, again, we don’t know the details but I’m sure whatever they are, Oscar and his GF would like for something positive to come from their passing.
MLB did nothing when Tony LaRussa was found by police passed out drunk behind the wheel of his Ford SUV at an intersection while the Cardinals were in Spring training. LaRussa later pleaded guilty to DUI. MLB did nothing when less than a month later LaRussa’s pitcher Josh Hancock, with a BAC of .157%, drove his car into the back of a tow truck and died. The Cardinals and a couple of other teams banned alchohol on team flights and in their home clubhouses for a bit – which was probably more of an effort to avoid dram shop liability than a sincere effort to prevent DUIs.
MLB did nothing when a drunk hit-and-run driver killed Nick Adenhart and two others (another passenger in the victim’s car somehow survived an internal decapitation).
Regardless of whether Taveras was on board with alcohol, you are absolutely right that Bud Selig and MLB have chosen to pretend that DUIs are nothing to worry about.
i’m on board with some of your comment but what exactly should MLB have done about a drunk driver with no MLB affiliation killing one of its players (adenhart)?
i suppose it raised the issue of DUI writ large on some level, but i’d still think responding to that situation by increasing DUI penalties for MLB players might have come off as a tone-deaf, victim-blamey non sequitur
I’m so sickened by this I couldn’t even watch the game tonight. Life can be very cruel. Always look on the bright side of life
Thanks for the thoughtful piece, Jeff.
So, so much this.
I’m confused as to why I’m so torn up about a kid I’ve never met, but I’m really fucking upset. Maybe it’s because I’m about the same age.
Starting at 9:00, this was very much a bourbon and BMS night. This shit makes me wish I could stop thinking.
I found myself briefly more upset because of his status as a huge prospect. I think people at Fangraph’s really like seeing how prospects do, and this one was taken too soon. Of course, upon reflection, his status as a top prospect or not is not really important. It’s really really sad either way.
Yeah, I think it’s because he was one of the guys whose page I would check every day, just to see how well he was doing.
There’s a weird, pseudo-personal relationship with prospects you follow closely. People call it a “prospect-crush” for a reason.
I’ve just been reading all the news and the Cardinals sites. I’m British, but my wife is a St Louisan, so when I met her in 2008 and was already generally interested in baseball I became a fan of the Cardinals. And it’s been a lot of fun, even through seasons as frustrating as this one.
I remember the game where Oscar was brought up, a couple of years ago, and the TV graphics guy clearly forgot to change the placeholder he’d put in, and Taveras was billed on screen as “Minor League Guy”. The laugh that brought me is the memory I’m holding on to right now, because thinking of anything else – his and his girlfriends friends and family, all the people inside the Cardinals, and lastly the amazing future he could have had as a ballplayer – just makes me sad.
I appreciate this is a stats website where the “personal” is often secondary, and for good reason. I enjoy reading the articles and gaining from the knowledge of everyone here. But thanks for putting this up, I’ve just woken up to this news, and am surprised at how sad I feel about it. I know it’s selfish in some part, because he was great to watch and I wanted to do it for many more years, but there you go. RIP Oscar, sorry you didn’t have more time.
This is truly heartbreaking. I read the headlines hundreds of times hoping and praying I was reading it wrong. My condolences go to both families. Also take this as a reminder to always drive safe. Life is precious.
it is now a few minutes away from being 5 AM. I work in a couple of hours. I dont think I’ve blinked since the top of the 1st inning of this WS game, which I missed. This just really hits home for so many reasons. I’m just slightly older than he was, and have a friend, who I consider to be a brother, of the same age, who is also from the DR. I guess when someone this young is gone, you think more and more about how arbitrary certain things are…Its pretty amazing. I never met him. I just saw him play baseball. Still, it feels like this is a loss for me, and I’m sure others feel the same. Thats what sports can do. Its a family thing.
“The point is to love and to do good things.”
The simplest but probably most important line of your piece. “Life isn’t fair” and “life is short” are two realities that we’re reminded of the most, as sad as it is. All we can do to honor those who had their lives cut short is to try and better ourselves or the world in some way. Cherish every day like it’s the last because if people like Oscar could come back, it’s what they’d do.
Great write up. The loss is more acute when someone of such potential dies. Yes, we did not known Taveras and likely never would have, but when one so young and so talented dies, I feel cheated out of all the awesome moments he would have been a part of. I’m no poet – I can’t begin to find the words to describe the loss fans feel for a man who they did not ever know. It may be overdone, but I still like Housman in this:
“The time you won your town the race,
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.
To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.
Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.
Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:
Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.
So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.
And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girls”
Such sad news last night. I thought of the Housman poem, too. But what makes the Tavares death so cruel is that he never got a chance to win the race. He died at the starting line, frozen in time at .239.
Thank you Mr. Sullivan for these well-written words on such a sad subject.
When I saw the headline, I initially thought it was Sullivan’s attempt to be witty, and that the article was somehow about his performance. I was ready to comment on how inappropriate it is. Now I wish it was just an inappropriate headline.
Very sad day for baseball and those youngsters families. Made me think about Ken Hubbs lost so long ago when I was a young kid. That was the first time I remember understanding a young person could die too.
The first thing I thought when I read about this development this morning is how Cameron said in a chat the other day something to the effect of “I remain unconvinced that Taveras is a star in the making.”
When something like this happens it makes you realize how completely unimportant it is whether Taveras actually became a major league star or not.
-If he didn’t become a star, he might be an average major league player.
-If he didn’t become an average major league player, he might have become a replacement player.
-If he became a replacement player – or even something less – he might have gone to Japan or some other foreign league and made a very good living, coupled with a worldly, exciting lifestyle.
-Even if he declined rather than maintained his current level of skills / performance, he might have quit playing and become a coach, scout, or enjoyed success in some other profession.
-Most importantly, he might have been someone’s husband, someone’s father, or someone’s grandfather.
My only point in mentioning this is that all of us, myself included, become so incredibly immersed in these players performances on the baseball field that we forget that if they do not excel at playing baseball they still have almost their whole lives ahead of them to do something else that is fulfilling and rewarding to them and society in general.
This is not a criticism of Cameron but rather just a reflection on all of us in this community and indeed the baseball world…at the end of the day, baseball is just one particular aspect of these humans’ lives.
Good stuff, this.
This is excellently put – thank you. A few months ago I was looking at prospects who were rated as similarly by Baseball America as Oscar Taveras (#3 overall heading into this season, I believe). There were some studs in there, but there were also names like Jeremy Hermida and Brandon Wood. And I started feeling a little worse about Oscar. But oh what I’d give for him to have the life of Jeremy Hermida or Brandon Wood…
Even if he performed poorly in Spring Training, was sent down to Triple-A and never made it back to the bigs again he could’ve told his grandkids, “Hey, I played in MLB”.
“Perhaps you feel shame, thinking more of Taveras than of Arvelo. Perhaps you ponder why these deaths should feel different from the rest of the world’s relentless death.” – by Sullivan in this article, this part hit me
I spent all day thinking. “What could this guy have been.” This guy’s a human being. His girlfriend died too. Thousands die everyday. I sit thinking about how the future of the Cardinals is now less than what it would be, but this goes beyond a fangraphs player page or the right field corner of Busch stadium.
Thanks for the article, Jeff. I had to find ways to make sense of many other tragedies in the past, but this one is just different. Over the past few years I’ve become more entrenched in following complex statistics and projections. This is the main place I come to for such things, and I’ve come to expect a great career from Oscar Taveras because of how confident I was in how he projected to be a major leaguer. Having it all taken away has just been a harsh reminder that these guys are more than just numbers; they’re human. It’s hard to accept that this actually happened, and for the difficulty I have with the situation, I just can’t imagine what the close friends and family of these two individuals are going through. Coming here to see an article about the human element of the situation and seeing the whole baseball community showing their sympathy is helping with the healing process.
My condolences to Mr. Tavares’ and Ms. Arvelos’ families, and Cards fans too – it’s not just prospects of baseball that were taken too soon, but the prospects of love and family in the lives of these two young ones.
On Twitter last night, I saw some pictures of players in the Dominican Republic mourning his passing and probably praying for him, his girlfriend, and their families. I wondered how many of them knew Oscar and why they all seemed to be so grief-stricken by this.
It occurred to me later that Oscar was what all these players hoped to be. For most of them, their 1 shot to get off the island and become truly successful is to become a professional baseball player in the U.S. Taveras did that and, though he wasn’t a star, he had a chance to be. I’m sure all of them could see themselves through Oscar even if they didn’t know him personally.
My heart goes out to all grieving from this tragedy. There are other tragedies, of course, probably many greater than this. But it’s important to remember sometimes that these players touch many people’s lives, regardless of whether or not they actually knew the player.
As a Cards’ fan, I’ll miss your potential. Many others in the world will miss you much greater than I will.
i promise i’m not ripping you here, but, i think you’re overthinking it. the players in the dominican all seem to know each other; in addition to the ties from meeting and playing with/against each other stateside, they all play together in the dominican winter league, which is a crazy and fun bonding environment. and anyway baseball just strikes me as a community vibe down there, where everybody kind of knows everybody.
so i really don’t get why you’d need to search for an explanation for why people from that community would be pulling together and mourning in a situation like this. saying it’s because they all want to get off the island like oscar could actually be seen as sort of insulting, because it kind of implies that internally they’re making it about themselves.
it’s like, if a young american player from rural alabama died suddenly like this, and people from rural alabama seemed sad about it, would you say they were probably sad because he represented their one chance to get rich and make it out of rural alabama? that’d be kind of weird, right? i think that’d be kind of weird
Wow. this hit me hard. I think baseball was a thing for me removed from the fragility of life. a self-contained and universal narrative that had its own rules of life and death.
there is so much sadness inscribed in the world
One more thing…I, too, was in a car accident this weekend. It was a very minor wreck; thankfully, no one was injured. It was entirely my fault, however, as I was acting recklessly, texting while I was driving. Every one is ok but I scared the hell out of the kids in the car I hit. I have a family — a wife and 2 kids — who love me greatly and who I love beyond measure. This type of thing should be a reminder to all of us of the seriousness of the responsibility that goes along with driving a car.
I saw pictures of Taveras’ car after the accident. It looked like someone had stepped on a tomato. We need to all — I, perhaps, most of all, — remember to be careful when we’re driving because there are a lot of people who will miss all of us if the worst happened.
The best lessons are the ones that are learned without great cost but with great understanding. Glad you are safe.
In the abstract all of these incidents are of course equally tragic, but there’s no denying it hits you harder when it happens to someone you knew. A lot of us “knew” Oscar Taveras. I had him on my minor league fantasy roster for several years; I poured over every clue about his personality and “makeup,” worried about his ankle, touted his abilities in person and print. I am grieving. If I owned a Cardinals cap, I’d wear it today. But let something good come of this tragedy. Let’s all remember this each time we are tempted to do something irresponsible when we’re behind the wheel, even something so minor as letting our attention wander.
Well said, a lesson can be learned from this. Im sure Oscar would want it to be.
Thank you so much for this, Jeff.
When I first saw the article title, not knowing of the news beforehand, my first thought was “Wow, did something happen to Oscar Taveras?”. Then I went “Nah, it has to just be something witty.” Then I opened it up and read the first lines and I went “Oh my god, something DID happen.”
A very sad day for everyone, but especially those close to Oscar and Edilia. I’m not sure what else to put into words, so I will just say that it was a great tragedy, and that we are all diminished by this loss.
Horible, just horrible news. Yeah for people that didnt know opening this must seem like a real shock, watching the postseason last night I was just like “wtf?” and totally stunned when I saw his name and timeline up on the tv. This sort of this just shouldn’t happen. For them both to die must have meant it was one seriously drunken/drugged up idiot on the road. Terrible.
RIP Oscar, and your girlfriend too.
I don’t think there was anyone drunk or drugged up. It was a one-car collision. It was apparently just extremely rainy; a freak accident. His car his a tree after sliding off road. It’s extremely sad, but a little different than Adenhart, where a drunk driver hit the vehicle he was in. It’s devastating to Taveras, Taveras’ girlfriend, their young child, the families’ of both, and all their friends, and baseball as a whole, though.
Reminds me of a local footballer turned manager over here in England (Gary Speed) that died a couple of years ago. He previously managed a team in my city (Sheffield) and then went on to manage the Welsh national football team. He was doing a great job there and really highly thought of and very well liked. Why he decided to take his own life no-one will ever know, inside he must have been very unwell which noone knew about.
Oscar has given off a similar feeling today. Just shocking.
.287 BAC while driving. Guess his death wasn’t quite such an unavoidable “tragedy” after all?
Concur. He wasn’t “taken.” It wasn’t “random.” The road didn’t kill him; he killed him.
This is a tragedy for his passenger, not for him. He’s a killer. (Depending on jurisdiction, this speed and alcohol might be murder.)
I think it’s entirely reasonable to mourn Oscar Taveras; the death of anyone is sad, even if they put themselves and others in that position. But we must first mourn his girlfriend. And others in the DR who have died while not taking people with them.
If the media reports are accurate (and let’s wait before finalizing), we should probably mourn everyone, everywhere who died too young while not seriously endangering society first. I may be slow in getting to Oscar Taveras.
I know this sounds cold. Don’t care. Can’t kill people. It’s a rule.