Former major leaguer Octavio Dotel has died in a tragic accident, Major League Baseball confirmed. The news was first reported by multiple outlets in the Dominican Republic, including Diario Libre. The roof of the Jet Set club in Santo Domingo collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday morning. As of Tuesday night, at least 98 people have lost their lives while nearly 200 more were injured, according to The Associated Press. Dotel was 51 years old.
Exact details of the tragic situation are difficult to pin down, but it appears hundreds of people were in the venue for a concert when the collapse happened. Dozens of people have been pulled out alive but many have died and the figures are likely to change. Dotel was reportedly trapped for about 11 hours before being rescued and initially survived, but was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.
Dotel was well known to baseball fans because he pitched in the majors for over a decade and bounced around to various teams. He made his major league debut with the Mets in 1999, working in a swing role. He was traded to the Astros ahead of the 2000 season and continued to work both out of the rotation and the bullpen for a while.
He eventually moved into a primary relief role and had more success. Though his earned run average was over 5.00 in both 1999 and 2000, he posted a 2.66 ERA in 2001. He tossed 105 innings over 61 appearances, only four of those being starts.
He continued working as a solid reliever for years after that, bouncing to the Athletics, Yankees, Royals, Braves, White Sox, Pirates, Dodgers, Rockies, Blue Jays, Cardinals and Tigers. He finished his career with a 3.78 ERA in 758 games. He recorded 109 saves and 127 holds. He won the World Series with the Cardinals in 2011. He was a part of a combined no-hitter with the Astros in 2003. He retired in 2014.
We at MLB Trade Rumors send our deepest condolences to Dotel’s family, friends and fans, as well as the hundreds of others who have been impacted by this awful event.
Photo courtesy of Kelley L Cox, Imagn Images
That’s terrible. Really good pitcher in his day.
Brian – Yes he was very good, he should be remembered for much more than just bouncing from team to team.
In fact his career 10.8 K/9 is the best of any RHP in MLB history with a minimum of 900 IP.
He was also the first NL pitcher to have over 15 starts and 15 saves in the same season.
Rest in peace Mr. Dotel ….. thoughts and prayers to your loved ones.
Very sad and well said Fever.
Talk about being at the wrong place at the time, sad.
Incredible stat.
What about deGrom? 10.9 K/9?
bertod – Good catch, thank you!
Either my source wasn’t updated since deGrom bumped up to 10.9 recently, or the source is not including active pitchers because strikeout numbers tend to drop during the final years of a player’s career.
Many relief pitchers bounce from team to team. I assume relief pitchers play for more teams than starting pitchers and position players.
Really good? When was that?
2001-03 2011 playoffs he was lights out
2012 playoffs with Detroit was unhitable
RIP Dotel sad for his friends and family
R.I.P
His sister died
@tiger182 Nelson Cruz’s sister died.
Every other publication is saying Doyle was injured, not died
Dotel*
@tiger182.
yahoo.com/entertainment/former-mlb-player-trapped-….
I see that I originally thought the same they pulled him out where he died on the way to the hospital or at it. Sounds like it’s official now.
Oh dang
I wonder if it was because of idiots shooting off Pyrotechnics inside a club? The article doesn’t say so you have to wonder when people are going to figure out that it’s a really bad idea?. Anyway he was a very good pitcher and sorry he’s gone. RIP Whatever it was.
Sadly she died of the injuries sustained.
Or maybe people weren’t shooting off pyrotechnics, but thanks for the tip, I guess.
Sounds like too much weight for the venue.
It seems he died in the ambulance on his way to the hospital
hey! that building was inspected and up to D.R. 2025 standards! est: 1906
Once bitten twice shy
2003……Warwick, Rhode Island
I’d assume the lightning strike the building took in 2023 could possibly b root cause before I arbitrarily jump to pyrotechnics.
Regardless this is tragic, my condolences to the families of all those lost.
Larry Brown- It’s amazing to me that in spite of Rhode Island in 2003, Nobody seems to have learned a lesson. I’ve heard of people still doing it. I’ve seen them do it inside domed stadiums. It’s really dumb. Like I said, The article didn’t say, But when I hear of something like this my mind automatically goes there, Right or Wrong.
It had NOTHING to do with pyrotechnics.
I hope if a member of your family dies in a tragedy some dope on the Internet doesn’t post an inappropriate comment he thinks is clever and funny. Show some class.
Chris Berman:
Octavio Shhhh Dotel
I’m with you
Johnjms- I said something funny to you? You think it’s funny people being burned alive in a tinderbox? Watch that documentary about that incident and see if you think it’s funny. One of the most horrifying things I’ve ever seen. idiot.
Octavio “Don’t ask” Dotel
He really was only 18… same as Pujols
Even though they were both 21
The people in this tragedy were trapped under the rubble from the building collapsing, not burned from a fire. The only similarities are multiple victims and a bar.
Both incidents were horribly tragic. But nothing that should leaf to that speculation.
I don’t think pyrotechnics are going to collapse a roof unless it caught on fire which was not reported to have happened
Can any of you idiots show me where it says I SAID it was a pyrotechnic event? No you can’t. All I said was I HOPED it wasn’t like that because the article didn’t say WHAT happened exactly. The education system really sucks in this country. Do they even teach English here anymore? One moron even thought I was making a joke. You gotta be kidding.
Arbitrarily speculating on such a topic is absolutely tacky.
As far as teaching English, that would be a yes. Which since you brought up, where did anyone state that you definitively claimed it pyrotechnics? You should also try “Tou have got to be kidding”. Since you are so concerned with “English”…
FWIW, Uncle, I understood your point. Also, I teach English!
@alan53. Is it understanding English or reading comprehension.
I hope they’ve learned how and when to use commas before being taught by you.
Not sure what point he was getting at either. He strongly alluded to it being caused by pyrotechnics. Then while trying to walk back that statement he only references his first mention of it.
He then goes on to say “The article doesn’t say but you got to wonder…..”. Clearly his comment was heavily alluding to this being related to pyrotechnics. He acknowledges the article doesn’t state it but he still thereafter pushes that narrative.
West Warwick, Rhode Island
RIP to our immaculate grid hero. That’s awful
Rich Hill and Edwin Jackson need to avoid nightclubs.. The rule of three might be out to get them.
Just don’t go to clubs after 50
It was for a concert are you really going to criticize the man on the day he died smh
I’m sending Jesse Chavez a cross and a rabbits foot as we speak.
I said same thing to my baseball group
This is horrible. I remember him as a a key part of the 2012 Tigers, having a great season at age 38. RIP.
RIP OD🙏
ESPN reports that he was injured
Espn is fake news.
Oh dear God
em65or: Why are you arguing with the news?
I read the one that noticed first.
Either way it’s a sad story to hear about the people we all watched a few years ago pitch.
Really dude? The first reports coming out were that he was found alive and injured at the scene. Now it appears that he died on his way to the hospital from his injuries. Are you really that simple that you don’t understand how situations can change from first reports? And you need to grind some stupid axe about espn on a thread about the tragic untimely deaths of over two dozen people.
Truth
We sadly live in world now where some will never miss an opportunity to be cruel.
I agree with you for the most part, but ESPN still hasn’t bothered to update their article or report any new developments. You can still go on espn app or website and one of the top headlines you see is “ex mlb pitcher Dotel survives nightclub roof collapse” as did the notification they sent out. While I agree fake news isn’t the best label for it, it is definitely extremely careless and sloppy journalism. Espn isn’t a very good news source to begin with, and this emphasizes that
Almost 4 dozen
Ya the situation is moving fast enough with all the updates that it’s hard to keep up. What a terrible thing. 🙁
Smf, I don’t mind if people have little regard for espn in general but also the sun doesn’t rise and fall on how quickly they update their site. I do mind if I see people like the individual i responded to taking this tragic and immensely sad situation and using it to push their personal pet peeves without any respect or regard for the people affected.
Unfortunately we live in a media world where it is considered more important to have the story first than to have the story right.
Or maybe the unfortunate problem is readers who can’t accept that stories change.
Yes, it’s a given ,that every topic posted becomes a path to find fault in another posters comments.
News flash;
For those who must always find fault in others, you are exposing your own insecurities.
bilko20: Very true. You really shouldn’t do that.
Did you get that from the old Kung Fu series? Sounds like something Master Po would say
your name fits you perfectly
mcnasty
Dumb comment of the day.
He was, but died in the operation room.
Terrible news. RIP. Condolences to his family and friends.
Just looked him up today and now this. Wow.
Oh no. Thoughts with his loved ones
You should update this. ESPN says he didn’t die but Nelson Cruz’s sister did
@pads. Sounds like he died on his way to the hospital.
newsweek.com/sports/mlb/former-mlb-pitcher-dies-fo…
Both died at the hospitals in the operating room.
How do you know it was in the operating room?
ESPN said he survived, but the sister of Nelson Cruz died. I’m sure they’ll update when more info is received.
ESPN’s information is unfortunately outdated.
people can forget roof can only take so many people or poor construction – sad way to go.
I was surprised he played on so many teams – I thought only of him in Houston.
Could also be poor building maintenance and the lack of gov’t oversight inspections. Also a lot of corruption in DR.
Phew. Thankfully the USA doesn’t have any corruption so these sorts of things never happen there!
C’mon seriously, you’re going with that angle?
Anyway, let’s keep it civil. It’s a terrible tragedy for all involved and Dotel was quite something in his time; really fun to watch.
Nothing like that. 1- they were not on the roof. 2- the building was built in 1972.
There are a lot of possible explanations for an event like this. It will likely be some time before any investigation comes to a conclusion.
Hold on, ESPN reported he’s among the injured but survived.
@theunknown. They pulled him out alive but he was succumb to his injuries
Molly Brown survived the Titanic, but she eventually died… of old age
@freddie. I thought her name was rose.
the unsinkable molly brown
The Unsinkable Margaret Brown. The Molly thing came many years after her death, she was never Molly in her lifetime.
And while I’m at it, the alias DB Cooper was actually Dan Cooper, but somehow it was said he identified as DB Cooper and the misinformation version stuck.
She also wasn’t “unsinkable” until well after her death.
Ok, so just Margaret Brown?
Mrs. Brown to you.
Which only goes to show that nobody actually died on the Titanic. 😉
msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/ex-mlb-pitcher-octavio-do…
MLB.com reported at 1:12pm on Tuesday that Dotel survived the building collapse. It sounds like there are some conflicting reports on his status. Let’s hope & pray he did survive the tragedy.
@dorothy. This just dropped
newsweek.com/sports/mlb/former-mlb-pitcher-dies-fo…
It’s official now. He died on the way to the hospital. Rest is peace, Mr.Dotel. Nelson Cruz’s sister (who a governor of a Dominican province) was also killed in the roof collapse. What a tragedy!
@dorothy. Might be more former players sounds they were in the bad area of the collapse. It originally said 16 with 120 injured and it keeps climbing and more people are trapped.
According to La Nacion, former MLB players Esteban Germán and Henry Blanco were also present while singer Rubby Pérez was performing early Tuesday, but left the club.
@nickthedev. Yeah maybe but I’m hearing there’s more people trapped inside. Doesn’t look like there’s going to be many survivor the numbers are climbing. Hopefully they left.
It was Tony Blanco, unfortunately he died, Henry Blanco is from Venezuela and was not in attendance.
It’s being reported that both Henry Blanco and Esteban German were at the nightclub but left before the collapse. I don’t know for sure if it’s true but I’ve seen it reported multiple places. And yes, unfortunately Tony Blanco also did pass away along with Dotel and many others
Sadly he is among the 44 that are no longer with us now.
Rest in Paradise Mr. Dotel and everyone else who was killed in this tragedy.
Oh my god
Thats horrible
What a tragedy
Solid major leaguer for 15 yrs
RIP
R.I.P
was great seeing him shine coming up through the Mets system and taking the league by storm with his electric fastball.
I remember that. I also remember Tom Seaver couldn’t pronounce his name. He called him “Octuvio.”
Among all the not good ways to go, this has to be one of the worst. So tragic for his family and friends.
I use to always trade for him in MVP Baseball 2005. I use to love pitching with him out of the pen. So sad to see him pass.
The man survived and is still alive
Your information is unfortunatelly outdated and incorrect.
msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/ex-mlb-pitcher-octavio-do…
Terrible, such a great reliever with electric stuff. May he RIP and whoever else tragically passed as well.
It was electric. Good description. He sometimes looked so unhitable.
Here in DR they said he died in the ambulance due to a heart attack, not sure how accurate that is… but he passed away unfortunately.
ESPN
He survived
ESPN. He Died.
msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/ex-mlb-pitcher-octavio-do…
ESPN still has the following headline: “Ex-MLB P Octavio Dotel survives deadly nightclub roof collapse.”
Here’s hoping ESPN is right for once…
ESPN is a clown network. Condolences to all who died
RIP Octavio…..
Horrible tragedy for all those involved. Rest in peace
RIP Octavio and all other tragic victims.
Sad. Octavio Dotel was the Tigers’ set-up & closer on those teams that came close but couldn’t quite close the deal. He was a gutty performer, battled every pitch like it was his last. Did better than most of Dombrowski’s closers. RIP.
Terrible. Condolences to the Dotel and Cruz families and to the families of the others as well
If he is dead that is really sad, but why does ESPN still say he made it out alive? This confuses so many people
They are not up to date. I live one block way from the trageddy.
@sad. Because he was pulled out of the rubble alive, and died at the hospital. They haven’t updated yet. Probably waiting to make sure they don’t get sued.
WOW. So sad to hear this. He was one of my go tos for Immaculate Grid
Today is Octavio’s tribute grid.
I heard NELLIE CRUZ was there as well, NELSON CRUZ’S sister,
Yes she was, she also was the governor of her province.
Have arm, will travel. RIP Octavio.
Dotel was a good go-to guy on Immaculate Grid. I hope all his former teams don an arm patch, but I’d be surprised if it happened.
RIP Octavio. He was in the big leagues for 15 years and was a top reliever (and starter) for a big chunk of them. Looking at his BB-REF page, I was surprised to see that he never made it onto the HOF ballot. He wasn’t a Hall of Famer, but he was certainly better than some who’ve made it onto the ballot over the years.
He was one of the first relief / swing man types I became aware of and followed the career of. RIP.
RIP.
Horrible tragedy…
The Jet Set was the most iconic nightclub in Santo Domingo, it had been operating for almost 50 years. They had concert nights on Mondays which was frequently attended by baseball players and other personalities from the Dominican Society, Octavio Dotel was a regular at those concerts. In fact yesterdays singer Rubby Perez who unfortunately still hasn’t been rescued is the brother of former major leaguer and gold glover Neifi Perez. Also in attendance was Esteban German who survived, and Nelcy Cruz governor of Monte Cristi and sister of former player Nelson Cruz, sadly she didn’t survive. There have been rumors with no confirmation that relatives of Pedro Martinez were in attendance. DR es a very small place, people tend to know each other when they are from the same cities or from the same Social Circle. I´m saddened and broken hearted that such a joyful personality and beloved character like Octavio Dotel has passed away,
This is going to hit hard today on all the players currently from the DR who will be playing games…like you said, such a close knit community.
Thank you for sharing this context and information. It really shows the extent of the impact this terrible thing is having on the dominican mlb community and the city of Santo Domingo. ☹️
Wow, that is really sad. He is a guy many of us appreciated because he played for so many of our teams. Such a shame, should have been able to enjoy the retired life for more decades.
Think of the countless teammates, clubhouse employees and fans he touched with his presence. A sad day- looking forward to the tributes to keep his legacy alive
So sad. He was one of the most fun players to interact with. My deepest sympathy goes out to his friends and family. RIP
I just read that at least 44 people didn’t make it out of there alive. Terrible news to hear and I’m sorry for his family.
So sad man he had a great couple of years with my Astros RIP!
RIP. Thanks for your contributions to a championship season in 2011.
Man I had him on my team in every MLB game I had when he was pitching. RIP to a great pitcher
Tony Blanco, a lesser-known figure, also succumbed to his injuries. He played for the Nationals in 2005. We played together as little leaguers.
@cp77. R.i.p. Tony Blanco. Saw a photo of the roof doesn’t look like there was a safe spot. It completely came down. Everyone in that club is probably in rough shape. Prayers to everyone in that building.
Very sad.
What a sad day.
My condolences.
Announcers on the Nationals’ game just said Nelson Cruz’s sister also died.
Prayers to all of those impacted by this tragic event. Rest in peace Octavio. You were loved by many fans of the game.
If Santo Domingo enforced annual strain-gauge checks (cost: ~$5,000), a 10% load exceedance—enough to crack supports—could’ve been flagged, cutting fatalities by 30-50% (10-15 lives), per NIST standards.
Thanx chat gpt
@el_chapo_
You’re welcome.
RIP to a good guy, his family and all the victims of this senseless tragedy. Life’s too short, hug your loved ones. Would love to see the baseball community rally around the community in their time of loss
Very horrible tragedy for all involved.
Rip to all lost in this tragic event.
He was a big part of a couple of great Tiger teams in 2012-13. His career strikeout rate of 10.8 per nine innings is the best in the history of baseball for right-handed pitchers with at least 900 innings pitched. RIP and prayers for your family, friends, and to all the victims.
May he rest in peace and his loved ones be comforted during this difficult time.
The Houston bullpen with Billy Wagner, Brad Lidge and Octavio Dotel was as good a pen as I’ve witnessed. Just imagine how good their numbers would’ve been had it not been the peak of the Juice League era.
Wow! So sad.
RIP
Dotel was not the only former mlb player who died in the tragedy. Tony Blanco, who played for the Nationals in 2005 and then had a long career in Japan also died
If people would stay home, this wouldn’t happen.
@SecondDoug
Life is full of decisions and some of those decisions are less valuable than others but he strategically chose to enjoy his time having a party over safety and security. We can’t always have Big Brother looking over our every move.
People die in their homes all the time. Stop blaming the victims of random accidents
R.I.P. Best reliever for the cardinals postseason in 2011. It’s very sad that he was kind of good(of course not hall of fame talent) but very amazing.
:’-(
Former Red Sox/Red/National Tony Blanco also died in that same accident
The man had his best stretch when he landed in St. Louis for two months in 2011. Without Dotel, the Cardinals don’t win that World Series. Rest in peace, sir.
The President of the Dominican Republic has declared three days of national mourning.
Dude had 11k’s per 9. I think that’s the best, ever if not the modern era.
RIP
This is so sad. I was just thinking about him literally a day before this news when I was playing Immaculate Grid. I really enjoyed watching him pitch as an Astro. RIP.