The Cardinals debut of Oscar Taveras, 10 years later

Can you believe it's been 10 years since that rainy May day in St. Louis? Since all of St. Louis stopped to watch what was the budding of a bright young star in baseball. Think about where you were at that time physically, or in life. Think about the direction and the state of the Cardinals organization at the time. The Cardinals were coming off 3 straight NLCS appearances and 2 World Series appearances in the last 3 years.

It's not often your organization finds, drafts, develops, and unleashes a top-ranked hitting prospect onto the competition. On May 31st, 2014, that is exactly what the St. Louis Cardinals did. At the time 21-year-old Oscar Taveras made his Major League debut and proceeded to launch a ball 418 feet over the left field wall for his first Major League home run. The wait was over. With that swing, Cardinal fans welcomed their most anticipated prospect since Albert Pujols. A fixture for the middle of the order, and their Outfield, for years to come. Only except, it wasn't to be.

On this 10-year Anniversary of the Debut of Oscar Taveras, we thought it would be fitting to look back and remember what a talented and joyful young man he was, how his career was ended so suddenly, and how that has had an impact on the Cardinals since.

Let's start by remembering how exciting Oscar was as a prospect in the Minors.

Oscar before MLB: The Hype

Oscar Francisco Taveras was born in Puerto Plata of the Dominican Republic on June 19th, 1992. He was a very driven and proud individual. Some stories say that at the ripe age of five, he anointed himself the nickname "El Fenómeno" or "The Phenomenon" in English. Who does that? Well, Oscar did. He dreamed of being in the Major Leagues and making his dad, family, and hometown proud.

Taveras was a phenomenon from the word go too. He was signed in 2008 out of the DR at 16 years old and immediately started his ascension. Taveras was a left-handed hitter with a ferocious swing that sprayed the ball from pole to pole. His load would remind you of a Juan Soto, crunched, staring into the pitcher and waiting for the next pitch like a dog watching a steak being cooked.

As aggressive as he was, he was consistent. That's what got him to the majors. From the seasons of 2009-2011 he got the seasoning he needed from a 65 game short season rookie ball in 2009 to a 97 games in 2011 between Single-A Quad City, and the Arizona Fall League. During that time Oscar saw his BA. continue to tick upward to the point that he finished 2011 with the River Bandits (Quad-Cities) with a .386 BA and an OPS of 1.028. He was 19.

2012 was the season Taveras really broke out and put it all together. He spent a full season at AA Springfield where he mashed 23 home runs, drove in 94 runs, and had a slash-line of BA .321/Slug. .572/On-base plus slugging .953. He went 3-4 in the Texas League All-Star game with a HR, 2b, and 3 RBI. He won Texas League MVP honors by leading the league in over 4 different offensive categories. All this earned Taveras his first future game honors where he got to showcase his skills against and in front of some of the best players in the world. Taveras was robbed of a hit in the third but ended 1-3 with a single.

"I saw OT hit an absolute bomb over the training facility at Hammons Field when he was in Springfield (2012). The ball felt like it was in slow motion with how long it traveled in the air"
- Mason Keith, Redbird Rants

Entering the 2013 season Taveras was already ranked the #1 ranked prospect in the Cardinals system and the third-best in all of MLB. It was time for some last polishing. After all, Oscar was about to turn 21. He spent the 2013 season in Memphis and took home more honors. He participated in the 2013 Futures game as well and continued to show great promise as he battled injuries for the first time in his professional career. He ended the 2013 season batting still .306 for the season with 32 Rbi's and poised for that next leap.

On November 20th, 2013, Taveras was added to the Cardinals 40-man roster.

May 31st, 2014: The MLB Debut of Oscar Taveras

Starting the 2014 season Taveras was ranked the 2nd best prospect in all of baseball behind Byron Buxton. Taveras got the invite to spring and was excited to showcase his skillset in front of the St. Louis squad finally, but unfortunately, he was dealing with an ankle injury that limited him to only 6 at-bats all of spring. He started the season in AAA Memphis being an R.B.I. machine before getting called up to the Majors on May 31st, 2014.

The excitement was palpable, thick in the air, much like the humidity hanging over downtown St. Louis on that Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals hosted the Giants in the midst of a three-game series. Check out some of the names in the starting line-ups that day! Oscar got the start in Right and batted sixth on the day. Right behind Yadier Molina and in front of Johnny Peralta.

Facing Yusmeiro Petit for the first assignment in his career, Taveras sent a line drive to left field but found the glove of the left fielder Colvin. Fast forward to his second at-bat and with a light shower starting to fall over Busch stadium, Oscar Taveras had something to say. "Thwack!" An absolute beauty of a swing that everyone in the ballpark just knew it was gone from the sound and sights of that sweet left-handed swing. Taveras parked it 418 feet over the rightfield wall for his first Major League hit and Homerun all in one. At the time Cardinals broadcaster Dan McLaughlin affectionately anointed Oscar, "The Rainmaker". I loved that.

When asked fellow Redbird Rant writer Jameson McCurdy to reflect on watching that special moment he had this to say.

"I remember sitting behind the right field foul pole when he hit his first home run. It started raining right before his AB and my dad wanted to go undercover but I told him no, I wanted to watch Oscar hit ".

There was a lot of Magic that day at the ballpark as celebrations were due all around for the young Phenom. The Cardinals went on the win 2-0 and Oscar Taveras was ready to make some noise in the majors.

October 12th, 2014: The NLCS Home Run

Later that Summer the Cardinals dealt away a struggling Allen Craig for some pitching help, and to make room for Oscar to finally have the opportunity to be an everyday player. For the season, Taveras struggled with some rookie growing pains. He finished the campaign batting .239, slugging .312, and knocking in 22 runs while hitting 3 HR. There were some things to work on, but flashes of brilliance were certainly there.

All that didn't matter anymore though as it was post-season baseball, and after beating the Dodgers in the NLDS, throw all logic out the window because in the early 2010's the Giants and Cardinals had some mean devil-magic working and they had a date in the NLCS.

Taveras had been splitting time with another hot-shot rookie in Randel Grichuk and he got the start in Game 1, and Game 2 in RF. It was the 7th inning and getting late though and Randel is a righthanded batter. Manager Mike Matheny made the decision to go with the young Oscar Taveras and see if the lefty could provide a spark off the bench.

Tavares working the at-bat to his favor worked the count to 2-1 before the right-handed pitcher Jean Machi delivered an 83 mph breaking ball to Oscar that wouldn't land for another 395+ feet over the right field wall. The Cardinals had tied the game on the rookie's swing and immediately etched his name into Cardinals lore.

The Cardinals fought hard in the series, but ultimately fell to the Giants in the NLCS in Game 5. Madison Bumgardner was in Classic form and the Giants had one more run in them during their impressive stretch. His last at-bat was a groundout to the pitcher unassisted.

Taveras was set to go into the off-season healthy and ready to be at his best for the start of the spring in 2015 against no competition but himself.

October 26th, 2014: The shocking news

Then, as quickly and as bright as he had made his start to his MLB career, it was done. On October 26th, 2014, at around 8 pm CST, reports started coming in during the ongoing World Series game that Oscar Taveras and his girlfriend, Edilia Arvelo, had died in an automobile accident in Puerto Plata, DR.

Personally, it was heartbreaking. I sat up with my mouth agape and not really believing the news. I waited as more and more reports came in. All the same. It was odd as a 22-year-old to stare at the computer or TV screen and see another 22-year-old, gone. That was reality though. The reality became even more dark and bold as it became known that Oscar Taveras's blood alcohol level was 0.287, more than 5 times the legal limit at the time of death.

"I remember watching the World Series when it was reported, and just being in absolute shock, so much to the point that I called my dad and brother. We were all so invested in the team. It really felt like losing a family member. I remember losing Darryl Kile and how much of a gut punch that was. I was only 12 when that happened. Same feelings came back when Taveras passed." -Taylor Streiff Redbird Rants

The feeling was the same Taylor, it was like losing a family member. This was the 3rd that I had lost to drunk driving and the 2nd for the Cardinals in short of a decade with the loss of Josh Hancock in 2007.

One player of note is RHP Carlos Martinez. Martinez and Taveras had been friends since childhood. Martinez was already a player that wore his emotions on his sleeve and the passing of his friend Oscar was very hard on him. He later changed his number to honor his late friend and cited carrying his memory on the field with him for every start after.