Oscar Tavares was one of baseball’s bright young stars. Unfortunately, he was killed in a car crash this past Sunday, Oct. 26. Tavares, a native of the Dominican Republic, was driving with his girlfriend in his hometown of Puerto Plana when his car careened off the road and slammed into a tree.
It was just a few short weeks ago that Tavares, a rookie playing in his first postseason, hit a decisive homerun for the St. Louis Cardinals’ only win in the NLCS. Prior to this season, Tavares was ranked as the number two prospect in all of baseball.
The extremely unexpected loss has been mourned all across the sport – words of condolence and shock have come from every level of the game. In my opinion, the most moving were the words of Cardinals manger Mike Matheny, who had the following to say:
“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.”
Bernstein is a member of the class of 2018.
