Former reliever and World Champion, died after an accident at a nightclub, although the St. Louis Cardinals community was initially told he was in stable condition.
Rubby Perez, a merengue artist, was on stage at Jet Set Nightclub in the Dominican Republic on Monday night. The nightclub’s roof fell late into the night and into Tuesday morning, putting the scores of people who were there in a terrible predicament. As pieces of concrete fell from the roof, patrons ran away.
Although rescue operations are still on, sources suggest that over 100 people have been taken to nearby hospitals and 15 more have been declared dead. There are still dozens of people buried beneath the debris. The country’s head of Emergency Management Operations, Juan Manuel Mendez, reported that 101 ambulances were transferred to other hospitals.
Former St. Louis Cardinals reliever Octavio Dotel has passed away following a tragic incident at the Jet Set Nightclub in the Dominican Republic
Mike Rodriguez of MLB Deportes said early Tuesday that Dotel, 51, was in the nightclub to watch Perez perform. After being pulled from the wreckage, Rodriguez first said that Dotel would be alright, but later that day, the doctors declared him dead.
Dotel, who has been playing for 15 years, spent the second half of the 2011 season with the Cardinals. Despite his limited tenure with the organization, he had a significant impact. The Cardinals acquired Octavio Dotel in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays that also included Edwin Jackson, Marc Rzepczynski, and Corey Patterson in exchange for outfielders Colby Rasmus, Trever Miller, Brian Tallet, and P.J. Walters. Dotel pitched in 29 games for the Cardinals in the final stretch.
Dotel had a 3.28 ERA and a 0.851 WHIP in 24.2 innings pitched during the Cardinals’ regular season. But that year’s postseason was where Dotel truly excelled.
That season, Dotel pitched 10.1 innings with the Cardinals, recording a 2.61 ERA, a batting average against of.139, and a WHIP of 0.68. The 37-year-old Octavio Dotel played a key role in the Cardinals’ late-season run to qualify for the postseason and was a vital member of a strong bullpen as the team won the World Series that year.
