GRAVE ISSUE
TWO DOMINICAN BALLPLAYERS ARE THE LATEST YOUNG ATHLETES KILLED IN CAR CRASHES
Johnny DiPuglia stood before a group of young Dominican ballplayers about to head to Florida, and delivered the talk he had given countless times before in his role as the Washington Nationals’ vice- president of international players, a talk the players had heard countless times from DiPuglia and others — but one that had taken on new, vivid meaning.
“You drink and drive,” DiPuglia told the prospects at the Nationals’ academy in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, before they headed off to accelerated spring training, “and there’s a very good chance you’re going to have a grave issue on your hands.”
Even after twin tragedies — the deaths of Kansas City Royals star pitcher Yordano Ventura and f ormer top prospect and Cleveland Indians infielder Andy Marte in separate crashes Jan. 22 on Dominican roadways — DiPuglia wondered whether his words would sink in.
“We try to teach them the ABCs of life as much as we can. We talk about it all the time — everyone in baseball does,” said DiPuglia, who has spent much of his career as a scout and front office executive in the Dominican Republic. “But even then, in a lot of cases, a teenager, or even a kid in his 20s, is going to do their own thing.”
Dominican authorities have not said what caused the fatal crashes of Ventura, 25, or Marte, 33, though in Ventura’s case it is suspected he was speeding. Royals general manager Dayton Moore said no alcohol was found at the scene of the crash, but authorities expect toxicology reports to take three weeks to complete.
If alcohol was found to have played a role in Ventura’s death, it would be doubly dispiriting.
In October, 2014, Ventura lost a close friend, Oscar Tareras, a 22- year- old St. Louis Cardinals outfielder, who according to authorities was driving drunk when he crashed in the Dominican Republic, killing himself and his girlfriend.
According to Fox Sports, if Ventura was found to have been intoxicated at the time of his crash, it could nullify his Royals contract and prevent his estate from collecting the more than US$20 million he is owed.
At l east t hree minor leaguers were killed in crashes in the Dominican Republic in 2016 — Baltimore’s Ramon Ramirez and Houston’s Jose Rosario died in motorcycle crashes within a week of each other, and Sandy Acevedo of the New York Yankees died in a car crash.
Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez, a Cuba native, was killed at the age of 24 in a boating crash off Miami Beach. Fernandez was found to have alcohol and cocaine in his system, but it was unclear whether he was driving the boat.
The problem of young athletes dying behind the wheel is not limited to baseball, nor to Latin players. In 2007, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was killed when he crashed his SUV while driving drunk, and in 1993, Cleveland Indians pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews died in a boating incident in Florida; investigators said Crews was driving the boat while legally intoxicated.
The NFL ( Jerry Brown of the Dallas Cowboys in 2012), the NHL (Dan Snyder of the Atlanta Thrashers in 2003) and the NBA ( Eddie Griffin of the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2007) have all experienced similar tragedies in recent years involving young players killed in crashes involving alcohol and/or speeding.
“It ’s not a Dominican thing,” said Andy Mota, an agent with Wasserman, whose client list includes Dominican stars Hanley Ramirez, Carlos Santana and Edinson Volquez. “It’s a common problem. It’s young athletes with a lot of money, driving fast and drinking alcohol. You don’t have to be Dominican or a baseball player to fall into that.”
At the same time, the Dominican Republic is known to be one of the most dangerous countries in t he world i n which to drive. In 2015, the last year for which data is available, the World Health Organization ranked it as the deadliest in the western hemisphere, with 29.3 auto f atalities annually per 100,000 residents. The WHO rated the country a “2” on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of enforcement of drunk- driving laws and a “3” for enforcement of speeding laws.
In 2016, of the 864 players on MLB opening day rosters and inactive lists, nearly one- tenth ( 82) were Dominican. Another 63 were Venezuelan, and 23 were Cuban.
“The laws here are a lot more lax, in terms of speeding and drinking and driving,” DiPuglia said. “The culture down here is more accepting of that lifestyle. If you get a DUI in the States, it can ruin your life ... But ( in the Dominican Republic), you don’t see that. DUI checkpoints — you don’t see that down here. And if you get pulled over here, and you have money, you can usually buy your way out.”
Former Nationals and Indians manager Manny Acta, a Dominican native managing the Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican Winter League, said driving in that country is like the “wild west” or “extreme sports.”
“Law and order don’t exist,” Acta said. “We don’t have enough cops. If we do have them, they’re underpaid and easy to bribe by people. And there’s minimal punishment for whoever breaks the law. I’m from here, and I won’t even drive. I always hire a driver. It’s an issue that’s deeper than just baseball. It’s cultural.
“For some reason, it’s considered uncool to wear seatbelts here. Why? That needs to be discussed. Drinking and driving — we don’t do anything about it. If I’m in the States, and I have a tail light out, I get stopped. Here, people drive around without headlights, breaking every rule. It’s a very deep- rooted issue.”
According to baseball officials, Dominican prospects, many of whom come from poverty in a nation in which the average gross annual income is US$ 5,770, are inundated with information and lectures about the dangers of drunk driving, among other subjects.
“Every day. Every day,” Moore, the Royals GM, said on a conference call when asked how often these issues are discussed.
“I’m more i ntentional (about it), to the point where it probably even goes in one ear and out the other. We’re constantly discussing things ... We feel extremely responsible as an organization to ( convey) to our players at every level the importance of making great choices.”
Major League Baseball also employees several dozen “RSAs” — resident security agents, typically active or former police officers — in the Dominican Republic to help teams steer prospects away from dangerous situations, including drunk driving, an MLB spokesperson said.
DiPuglia said he constantly advises players to hire a driver, or take a designated driver along — or even use Uber, which launched service in the Dominican Republic in 2015.
“But everybody wants to be seen in their fancy car, with their loud music,” DiPuglia said.
The education continues when players make it to the major leagues — when the big paycheques often bring the temptation to buy faster, more expensive cars — in the form of formal spring training lectures and sessions at the MLB Rookie Career Development camp, held each January in Leesburg, Va. Of the 109 top prospects picked by their organizations to attend this year, 29 were Spanish speakers, for whom some parts of the program are specifically tailored. Ventura attended the program in 2013.
“It’s not that the industry isn’t providing players with education,” said Lou Melendez, who, as MLB’s former vice-president for international operations opened the sport’s Dominican headquarters in 2000, and who now serves as a consultant to the MLB Players’ Association. “Can more be done? Probably. It’s something that has to be looked at.”
But Acta said there is a limit to what education alone can do. Without stricter laws, better enforcement of existing laws and a shift in attitude regarding drunk driving, people will continue to die behind the wheel in the Dominican Republic — and some of them will be baseball players.
“This isn’ t baseball’ s fault,” he said. “MLB does the best they can, but they can’t babysit these guys in the offseason.”