Winter Auction 2015 closing February 7
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/8/2015
Touted as one of the best prospects in decades, Oscar Taveras came out of the Cardinals farm system with a prodigious .321 average and armfuls of awards. He made his big league debut on May 31, 2014 and homered for his first hit. After a successful rookie year in which he hit a game-tying home run in Game 2 of the NLCS he returned to his native Dominican Republic for a well-deserved rest. On October 26, 2014, just before the start of Game 1 of the World Series, the slugger's Camaro ran off the Sosúa-Cabrete freeway, killing himself and his girlfriend. Taveras left behind a 1 year-old son and millions of baseball fans wondering "what if…" The Rawlings Official major League Baseball has been augmented with hand-written calligraphy noting "First Major League Home Run and Hit", "1st MLB Hit/Home Run", "vs San Francisco Giants Yusmeira Petit", "2nd MLB at Bat" and the date "May 31, 2014" in black ink. Taveras has signed the ball in blue ball point adding "1st HR/Hit". The ball shows good game use as would be expected. 100% of the consignor's proceeds above the minimum bid are being donated to Oscar Taveras' family. COA from MLB EK 722810.