The leading batter of the Dominican Winter Baseball League, 26-year old José Oliva, died from concussions received Monday at dawn in a car crash along the Santo Domingo-San Cristóbal highway. He was driving his convertible sports car Toyota Supra, accompanied by a Puerto Rican woman, Esmeralda Cruz. At the time of his death, he was batting for .286 with 40 runs batted in and eight homeruns. He was the leader of the league in RBIs and runs. He was expected to win the title of the most valuable player of the regular series. Jose Oliva was a native of Los Cuatro of San Pedro de Macoris, the same town that earlier had produced Pedro Guerrero and George Bell. He was scheduled to sign a contract with the Seattle Mariners on Monday. The crash Esmeralda Cruz, a Puerto Rican woman residing in New York who was with the baseball player at the time of his death, explained they turned over 15 minutes after leaving Santo Domingo. They were on their way to the Mondy Disco of San Cristóbal. She explained the car slid off the highway on a curve and turned over several times. Cruz suffered only minor injuries as she was wearing her seat belt. Oliva was not wearing it and was thrown out of the car after it turned over and over. Press reports indicate that Oliva would not have been mortally injured if he had been wearing his seat belt. The player was left in the middle of the road and between the two they were able to reach the side of the road, as nobody stopped to assist them. About an hour later, an ambulance came. But Oliva died 20 minutes after reaching the hospital from multiple internal injuries. Cruz said he knew he was severely injured and was going to die and asked her to hug him as she did before he died. Press reports indicate that Oliva was married, but Cruz explained that she was not aware of this as he had taken her out with his brother, "and nobody told me anything." His five-year old daughter and his mother were at the funeral. Raul Mondesí had sold the sports convertible to Oliva. Mondesí’s mother had begged her son to get rid of the vehicle, fearful of the high speeds it could reach. Oliva had been after Mondesí to sell him the car for several months. Mondesí said he tried to talk his friend out of buying the car. The funeral His funeral rites and mass by bishop of San Pedro, Francisco Ozoria, took place at the Tetelo Vargas Baseball Stadium of San Pedro de Macorís, where over 50,000 persons turned out to say goodbye to the player. Dominican Major League players attended the funeral, including his close friend Raul Mondesí, who cried freely during the funeral. Other players present were Moises Alou, Juan Samuel, Neifi Perez, Samuel Sosa, Henry Rodriguez, Geronimo Berroa, Julio Cesar Franco, Pedro Julio Astacio, Hector Carrasco, Alfredo Griffin, Fausto Macey, Manny Alexander, Felix Jose, George Bell, Julian Heredia, and Balbino Galvez, many of which also cried at the funeral. Minister of Sports, Juan Marichal, brought a consolation message to his family from President Leonel Fernández. A song by Alberto Cortez was sung at the funeral: "Cuando un amigo se va comienza el alma a vibrar porque se llena de frio… cuando un amigo se va queda un terreno baldio, por las piedras del hastio; cuando un amigo se va, se mira un arbol caido, cuando un amigo se va, deja un espacio vacio." Thousands of residents of San Pedro de Macorís watched the funeral procession pass through the city, saying their farewell to the baseball player. At the moment of his burial in the San Pedro cemetery, those around the tomb cried out, "José, we are with you."
