Known as "El Fenómeno" (Spanish for "The Phenomenon") in the Dominican Republic, the Cardinals signed him at age 16 in 2008 as an international amateur free agent and he made his MLB debut in 2014.

He elicited comparisons to former MLB outfielder and fellow Dominican Vladimir Guerrero—with a powerful and smooth, balanced stroke, Taveras successfully hit pitches well outside of the strike zone.

On May 31, 2014, Taveras homered in his major league debut against the San Francisco Giants and went on to hit .239 in 80 regular season games, playing mostly right field.

Originally from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Oscar Taveras grew up in a town called Sosúa.

[5] Taveras earned another promotion to the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Class A Midwest League (MWL) in 2011 and spent the entire season there.

After coming off the bench in the August 28 game against Burlington, he went 3-for-3 with a home run and missed hitting for the cycle by a double.

[4] He was actually 31 plate appearances short of qualifying; however, his adjusted batting average after adding the hitless at-bats still gave him the title.

[6] After winning the Midwest League batting title at age 19, Taveras began to garner notice outside the Cardinals organization.

[9] Taveras won his first of two Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month awards in 2012 for April after batting .340 (32–94) with six HR and 21 RBI.

Taveras won his second organizational Player of the Month award of 2012 – and third of his career – for June after totaling a .347 average (34–98), six HR and 19 RBI.

[9] Selected to the Texas League All-Star team, Taveras started in center field and batted fourth.

His 3-for-4, home run, double and two-RBI effort helped earn him unanimous Most Valuable Player honors for the game.

While sliding into second base in a May 12 game, his ankle caught and pronated awkwardly on the bag, resulting in a high-ankle sprain.

[19] Beginning in the 2014 season, MLB.com ranked Taveras as the second-best prospect in all of MLB, behind only Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins organization.

[24] Making his MLB debut at Busch Stadium on the afternoon of Saturday, May 31, against the San Francisco Giants, Taveras flied out in his first at-bat.

When Matt Adams came off the DL June 19, Taveras' 22nd birthday, the Cardinals optioned him back to Memphis after batting .189 with a .225 OBP and .297 SLG in 40 PA.[30] Despite the low rate statistics, he showed a marked ability to get contact on MLB pitching.

He appeared on the postseason roster for the Cardinals, playing exclusively as a pinch hitter, and collected three hits and two runs scored in seven total at bats.

His combination of strong, quick hands and excellent hand-eye coordination allowed him to assert considerable bat control to make constant, square contact with the incoming pitch.

[37] With an ability to drive the ball to all fields, his power ceiling was high, projected with 25 to 30 home runs in his peak.

However, the Cardinals believed that Taveras showed the range and skill to be an effective center fielder so he began taking an apprenticeship to learn the position.

[4] On October 26, 2014, Taveras and his girlfriend, Edilia Arvelo, died in a car accident[38][39] on the Sosúa-Cabarete freeway in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.

I first met Oscar when he was 16 years old and will forever remember him as a wonderful young man who was a gifted athlete with an infectious love for life who lived every day to the fullest.

[43]Cardinals manager Mike Matheny stated, "There is not a more accurate word ("love") for how a group of men share a deep and genuine concern for each other.

"[44] Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig stated, "With heavy hearts, tonight we play Game 5 of the 2014 World Series in the memory of these two young people.

"[45] Observances on behalf of Arvelo and Taveras and a moment of silence were held before Game 6 of the World Series, before the first pitch.

)[46] On October 28, the Cardinals left the right field lights on at Busch Stadium[47] and released a Twitter photo of the scene the next day.

On November 11, press releases confirmed that his blood alcohol content was 0.287, nearly six times the legal limit for the Dominican Republic.

He declared that the team would take a greater role in educating young players to "avoid reckless actions".

The team would also wear black circular patches inscribed with OT (Taveras's initials) inside a white circle on their jerseys.

A large decal in his memorial was posted in the home team bullpen of Busch Stadium along with the ones of Hancock and former pitcher Darryl Kile, who died of coronary artery disease during the 2002 season while still active.