Bernie Show: The haunting of Oscar Tavares

The Bernie Miklasz Show

Oscar Tavares, a heralded and highly-touted prospect, made his MLB debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on May 31, 2014 at age 22. He played his final game for the Cardinals on Oct. 16, 2014 and died 10 days later, killing himself and his girlfriend in a horrific, single vehicle drunk-driving wreck in the Dominican Republic. Including the postseason, Tavares was a big-league Cardinal for 87 games. His death left a void in right field that the Cardinals have been unable to full despite using more than 40 players there over the last 10 seasons.

Questions remain. Had Taveras lived, what were the chances of him fulfilling such immense hopes and expectations? Obviously, we'll never know. But I don't assume greatness. Taveras had some struggles during his brief time as a Cardinal -- and that could have prevented him from becoming the Next Great Star of a franchise that desperately wanted to develop a successor to Albert Pujols as a lineup catalyst and leader. I discuss all of this in Monday's video.