SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - St. Louis Cardinals rookie outfielder Oscar Taveras was drunk at the time of his fatal car crash last month in his Caribbean homeland, an official in the Dominican Republic said Wednesday.
Tessie Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the Dominican attorney general's office, told The Associated Press toxicology reports showed Taveras had a blood-alcohol level five times the country's legal limit when he lost control of his car Oct. 26 on a highway in the tourist region of Puerto Plata.
She says the 22-year-old Taveras was "legally intoxicated when he crashed."
Taveras hit .239 with three homers and 22 RBIs in 80 games this year. He homered against the Giants in his major league debut on May 31. He also had a big solo drive in the seventh inning of Game 2 in the NL Championship Series against San Francisco.
Taveras held a Canadian passport. He spent four years as a teenager living in Montreal with his father, Francisco Taveras, and played for the Marquis de Montreal of the Quebec midget triple-A league before moving back to the Dominican Republic.
Taveras was a teenager when he signed with the Cardinals as an international free agent in 2008. Before this season, he was ranked the No. 3 overall prospect by MLB.com and Baseball America.
