RIP Oscar
“When one guy would move away, we never replaced him on the team with anyone else. We just kept the game going like he was still there,” — The Sandlot.
Sunday Oscar Taveras, a Cardinals outfielder, and his girlfriend died in a car crash in his home town of Puerta Plata in the Dominican Republic. Taveras was just 22 years old.
Now I get that a lot of people aren’t sports fans and find it odd for some people to be upset about a death of a person they didn’t know personally. Trust me, I feel slightly guilty because I may not have known who Taveras was if he was not on my favorite baseball team. Yet here I am, moved by the fact that Taveras was taken so early.
That’s the thing about sports though, the Cardinals have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. It sounds cheesy, believe me I know, but being a Cardinal fan has been part of who I am for longer than just about anything else that I identify with.
So as a result I read about Taveras and watched him when I could for the better part of the past three years. He was the Cardinals highest rated prospect since Albert Pujols. He tore it up in the minors. I made sure to go watch him any time that he came to play the Bees in Salt Lake. So I felt a sense of pride when I watched him make it to the big leagues and achieve his dream. Pride because he was finally showing everyone what I knew he could do.
On May 31 Taveras played in his first game. In his second at-bat he hit a home run. It promptly started raining. The rain warranted a delay seemingly for everyone both in and out of Busch Stadium to appreciate the start of a promising career. At the time it was poetic, now even more so.
Just two weeks before Taveras died in that car crash he hit a game tying, pinch-hit home-run against the Giants in game two of the NLCS. Taveras’ first and last hits of his all too short career were home runs.
Mike Matheny, the Cardinals manager, did not make a statement the night of Taveras’ death saying he “just simply couldn’t.” However when he could finally formulate words he weighed in on what Oscar meant to his teammates. Here is the final part of his statement:
“In my opinion, the word “love” is the most misused, and misunderstood word in the English language. It is not popular for men to use this word, and even less popular for athletes. But, there is not a more accurate word 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. You will be missed, Oscar.”
In the outpour of reactions on social media from those in baseball a recurring theme was his love of the game and his smile.
“Keep thinking about Oscar’s big smile in the dugout whenever we made a big play/ got a big hit,” tweeted Pat Neshek, a Cardinal relief pitcher.
“I just loved the guy. He clearly had a rare talent and was an amazing player. He was an even better person,” said Shelby Miller, a Cardinal pitcher.
“I’ll always think of him as a young kid who was excited to be in the majors and who was excited everyday to live his dream,” said Daniel Descalso, a Cardinal infielder.
The Cardinals won’t replace Taveras, not really anyway. They will take the field with nine come spring, but it will feel hollow. A lot is going to be talked about what Taveras could have been and his ceiling. However what should not be forgotten is that this kid from the Dominican Republic made it. He was a major league baseball player, he had his post-season heroics and he captivated a city. So congratulations Oscar you made it, you made it to the big leagues, which is all a kid from the Dominican Republic hopes for. Now you can rest in peace.