Tuesday, November 4, 2014

A Death In The Family

Oscar Taveras Memorials 2

It happened the weekend before last. A promising young outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, Oscar Taveras, was killed in a car accident in his native Dominican Republic. Just 22. Money, plenty of money, for the first time in his life. Driving a Camaro with his girlfriend after a heavy rain. One car accident running into a tree.

The Cardinals are the closest thing this mixed-up town has to a unifying element. When there is a death, we see an outpouring of emotion from the fans, with home-made memorials piled up beneath the statue of Stan Musial, the greatest Cardinal of them all, at Busch Stadium. It occurred when Musial himself died in January 2013 and pitcher Josh Hancock was killed in another car wreck in 2007. Maybe some kind of public catharsis.

Oscar Taveras Memorials 1

Oscar Taveras Memorials 3

Oscar Taveras Memorials 5

Oscar Taveras Memorials 4

4 comments:

Luis Gomez said...

Moving shots. Very sad.

Stefan Jansson said...

Very sad. One of Sweden's football heroes from the World Cup in the US passed away a few days ago He was a very likeable fellow. Cancer took his life.

Birdman said...

Death was never meant for the young.

William Kendall said...

Just getting started, such a promising career, and it's gone just like that.