Octavio Dotel, a veteran of 15 Major League Baseball seasons, died Tuesday at the age of 51 from injuries sustained when the roof of a nightclub in the Dominican Republic collapsed, officials announced.
The accident also claimed the life of former major league player Tony Blanco and Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the northern Monte Cristi province and sister of seven-time MLB All-Star Nelson Cruz.
Blanco appeared in 56 games for the Washington Nationals in 2005 and played eight seasons in Japan.
“Major League Baseball is deeply saddened by the passings 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. ‘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 was a native of Santo Domingo who played for 13 teams over his 15 seasons in the majors from 1999 to 2013. Originally signed by the New York Mets, Dotel was traded to the Houston Astros after making his MLB debut in 1999 and he spent five years in Houston – where he developed into one of baseball’s top relief pitchers.
In 2003, he made history when he, Hall of Famer Billy Wagner and four other Astros pitchers combined to no-hit the New York Yankees.
After Wagner’s departure, Dotel took over the closer’s role for the Astros in 2004. In June he was traded to Oakland in a blockbuster three-team deal that sent eventual postseason hero Carlos Beltran to Houston. Dotel finished the year with a career-high 36 saves.
He continued to pitch effectively into his late 30s, finally winning a World Series ring as a member of the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals. He posted a 2.61 ERA with a pair of wins over 12 postseason appearances that season.
And he returned to the World Series the following season with the Detroit Tigers, pitching five scoreless innings over six postseason appearances as the Tigers eventually fell to the San Francisco Giants in the Fall Classic.
When he debuted for the Tigers in 2012, Dotel set the record for most major league teams, Detroit being his 13th different organization. Dotel’s mark was later broken by Edwin Jackson.
This story was updated with new information.
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