Cardinals honor Taveras' legacy on anniversary of his MLB debut
ST. LOUIS -- In his short career as a major leaguer, Oscar Taveras went out swinging.
That's the side of his legacy the Cardinals sought to honor Sunday at Busch Stadium during a pregame ceremony commemorating the one-year anniversary of his major league debut. The Taveras family -- his father, Francisco Taveras, his mother, Maricela Cabrera, and his siblings -- joined Cardinals front office personnel and manager Mike Matheny near home plate while a tribute video played on the Jumbotron.
It began with the swing that started it all: A solo home run amid the raindrops that put St. Louis up 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth against San Francisco one year ago today. The hit was Taveras' first in the majors.
"I'm so happy," the late outfielder had told FOX Sports Midwest's Jim Hayes afterward, before thanking the St. Louis fanbase. "(I'm) happy here, doing my job, and try to get better every day and play hard every time."
The video also featured the swing that became Taveras' curtain call at Busch: Another solo homer against the Giants, this time in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
Overall, Taveras spent six years in the Cardinals organization, which signed him as an international free agent in 2008 before his big-league debut in 2014.
"There had been so much hype and talk about this exciting player, and to finally get him here -- he's the kind of player that deserved that," Matheny said.
The Cardinals presented his family Sunday with a photo book that contained every picture the organization had of Taveras from their collections. His teammates have also been wearing an "OT" patch on the left sleeve of their uniform jerseys this season, and are refurbishing a baseball field in the Dominican Republic where Taveras played as a kid.
His short career still managed to make an impression even in the visiting team's dugout.
"As a catcher on the other side trying to scout him and figure out how you were going to approach him and watching the video of him, you just saw the talent he had, and how little margin you had for error because he was going to make you pay if you made a mistake," recalled Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis.
Of Taveras' death last year in a car crash at age 22, Ellis said: "We all mourned. We all felt for him and felt for the Cardinals organization."
Taveras' close friend, Carlos Martinez, started Sunday for the Cardinals against the Dodgers. Martinez switched to No. 18 -- Taveras' number -- this season in honor of his friend.
Matheny admitted Sunday's game would likely be emotionally difficult for his starter.
"We're always concerned about Carlos trying to overdo it, and it's going to be a concern again today with all this being refreshed in his mind," the manager said. "But once again, when you start talking about topics like this, it's bigger than the game."
Meanwhile, his team's ongoing commemoration of the promising right fielder is something even an opponent can respect.
"I'm glad that they're able to honor him by wearing his patch all year, and Carlos is honoring him by wearing his number," Ellis remarked. "It might be different teams, especially the Dodgers-Cardinals and the rivalry, but at the end of the day, there's also a baseball fraternity. We're all in this together."
You can follow Elisabeth Meinecke on Twitter at @lismeinecke or email her at ecmeinecke@gmail.com.
