Octavio Dotel, who pitched for 13 major league teams in a 15-year career and won a World Series with the St Louis Cardinals, was among the dead after a roof collapsed at a nightclub in his native Dominican Republic where he was attending a merengue concert. He was 51.
Officials initially said Dotel was rescued from the debris and transported to a hospital, but spokesman Satosky Terrero from the Dominican Professional Baseball League confirmed that Dotel died later on Tuesday.
About 100 people died and 160 were injured after the collapse at the Jet Set nightclub, officials said.
Photo: AFP
Tony Blanco, who played one MLB season and eight years professionally in Japan, also died following the collapse, Terrero said.
Also killed was Monte Cristi Governor Nelsy Cruz, the sister of Nelson Cruz, a former MLB player and current MLB special adviser to baseball operations.
“Major League Baseball is deeply saddened by the passing of Octavio Dotel, Tony Blanco, Nelsy Cruz, and all the victims of last night’s tragedy in Santo Domingo,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
“We send our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of all those who have been affected, and to our colleague Nelson and his entire family,” he said. “The connection between baseball and the Dominican Republic runs deep, and we are thinking of all the Dominican players and fans across the game today.”
Dotel signed with the New York Mets in 1993 as an amateur free agent and made his major league debut in 1999. A starter early in his career, he turned into a reliable and at times dominant reliever while appearing in 758 games from 1999 to 2013.
When he took the mound for the Detroit Tigers on April 7, 2012, he set the record playing for the most major league teams at 13. Edwin Jackson broke the record in 2019 when he pitched for his 14th team.
The Pittsburgh Pirates, who Dotel played for in 2010, held a moment of silence before their game against the Cardinals, while the Mets also held a moment’s silence and showed a Dominican flag on the video scoreboard before their game.
Dotel’s best years were with the Houston Astros in the early 2000s. He was a setup man for star closer Billy Wagner, making 302 appearances and posting a 3.25 ERA in four-plus seasons. He was the fifth of six pitchers to combine on a no-hitter against the New York Yankees in 2003. The next year, he was part of the three-way trade that brought Carlos Beltran to the Astros.
Dotel pitched for nine teams before he landed with the Cardinals, who acquired him from Toronto at the 2011 trade deadline. He appeared in 12 post-season games, including five in the World Series against the Texas Rangers.
In 2013, he pitched on the Dominican Republic team that won the World Baseball Classic with an 8-0 record.
Dotel finished his major league career with 1,143 strikeouts in 951 innings, a magnificent rate of 10.8 per nine innings. He had a career 59-50 record, 109 saves and 3.78 ERA.
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