I hate to break up the celebration of this wonderful World Series with terrible news, but unfortunately, it's necessary. Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras, one of the most promising young stars in baseball, has died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic. His girlfriend was also killed in the same crash. Taveras was only 22 years old.
Taveras was one of the most-touted prospects in baseball in recent years. He was ranked as the number three prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America coming into this season. He made his major league debut on May 31 of this season and he hit .239/.278/.312 with three home runs and 22 RBI in 80 games for the Cardinals this season. Everyone expected that his best years would be ahead of him, as his youth and raw talent projected him to be an all-star for years to come.
He played seven games in the postseason this year, including this game-tying home run in the seventh inning of Game Two of the NLCS.
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It will have to serve as the highlight of his all-too-short career.
At a time like this, the baseball community comes together to mourn one of our own. There aren't any rivalries at a moment like this, only sadness and sympathy. I'm sure we at Bleed Cubbie Blue speak for all Cubs fans when we say we are terribly sorry to hear of the loss suffered by the friends and family of Taveras and his girlfriend, as well as the entire St. Louis Cardinals community. We offer our sympathies, our prayers and our support. We have all been deprived of a chance to see a great player grace our ballparks for years to come. And those that knew Taveras and his girlfriend have lost even more.