Thoughts on...the passing of Oscar Taveras

Another year of baseball is in the books. This year is a year sports writers almost dream about. You had Cinderella stories beating Cinderella stories (KC beating the Orioles; still salty about that), a new "dynasty" rise (the Giants), the Yankees and Red Sox not making it to the playoffs (hooray), and the Nationals kicking much butt, but kind of becoming unglued at the last moment.

This season also had tragedy in the form of the untimely death of Cardinals prodigy Oscar Taveras who, fittingly for the hype of his star, homered in his last at-bat.

Hearing the news of Oscar Taveras' death, it hit me more than usual. I heard this past Monday, during my usual morning ritual (waking up, dressing, heading off to work, etc). Perhaps it's because he was young and within my own age bracket, but I was stunned that this young man, someone seemingly so full of life and joyful over being able to do what he loved, he was gone. 

Now, I'd be lying if I said that I followed Taveras religiously. I saw he had a mountain of potential and homered in his first game. However, I stopped paying attention as much as the season went on. But, a death like this, it makes you stop thinking about baseball in a "oh, it's a game with a ton of overpaid athletes swinging bats at balls" type of way. Taveras was twenty-two, four years younger than me. A tragedy like this, it reinforces that you've got to be thankful for every day you're given on this earth, that you need to make the most of every moment.

Rest in Peace, young man.

-Johnthan