St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras died due to a car accident in his his native Dominican Republic.
Taveras was considered as one of the majors' top prospects of the Cardinals. He died, 22 years of age.
According to reports, Taveras was driving a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro at the time of the crash on a highway between the beaches of Sosua and Cabarete in Puerto Plata, about 215 miles north of the capital of Santo Domingo, said Col. Diego Pesqueira of the Metropolitan Transportation Agency.
Asidefrom Taveras, Edilia Arvelo, 18, who was in the car with Taveras, also died in the accident. National police spokesman Jacobo Mateo Moquete said he was told by the mayor of Sosua that Taveras lost control of his vehicle and went off the road.
Pesqueira said "He wasn't carrying document at the time of the accident, but his body was identified by family members."
Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak send a press statement regarding the matter saying "I simply can't believe it. I first met Oscar when he was 16 years old and will forever remember him as a wonderful young man who was a gifted athlete with an infectious love for life who lived every day to the fullest."
Cardinal's chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. has said that the team was shocked and saddened by the player's death. He said "Oscar was an amazing talent with a bright future who was taken from us well before his time. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends tonight."
Aside from the team baseball Commissioner Bud Selig sent out his condolences to the family. "All of us throughout Major League Baseball are in mourning this evening. Oscar, a young member of the baseball family, was full of promise and at the dawn of a wonderful career in our game, evident in his game-tying home run against the Giants exactly two weeks ago."
Including Tony Clark, the leader of the players' association, who sent out a statement saying "Oscar had a very promising future, on and off the field, and this news is heartbreaking on many levels. It's never easy to lose a member of our fraternity, and to lose one so young is devastating news."
