Cubs Minor Leaguer Dies in Motorcycle Crash in Dominican Republic
Cubs minor league SS Vicente King was reportedly killed Sunday night in a motorcycle crash in the Dominican Republic. He was 16.
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King was part of the Cubs 2016-17 IFA class, signing with the Cubs on September 22nd of last year. He received a $50,000 signing bonus, and was set to make his pro debut with DSL Cubs #2 in 2017.
Per statistics from the the World Health Organization compiled in 2010, the Dominican Republic had the highest rate of traffic-related fatalities per 100,000 population of any country in the Americas. (Belize was a distant second). There were only eleven countries in the world with higher rates than the Dominincan Republic (nine of the countries are in Africa, and the other two are Thailand and Iran).
Six MLB, minor league, or KBO players have been killed in vehicle crashes in the Dominican Republic in 2016-17:
1. Jose Rosario, RHP (GCL Astros) - 1/24/2016
2. Ramon Ramirez, 3B (GCL Orioles) - 1/30/2016
3. Sandy Acevedo, 3B (DSL Yankees) - 4/23/2016
4. Andy Marte, 3B (KBO KT Wiz - ex-MLB) - 1/21/2017
5. Yordano Ventura, RHP (Kansas City Royals) - 1/22/2017
6. Vicente King, SS (DSL Cubs #2) - 4/2/2017
Also, OF Oscar Taveras (St. Louis Cardinals) and his girlfriend were killed in a crash in the Dominican Republic in October 2014.
In addition, four Cubs minor leaguers (INF Frandy de la Rosa, OF Kevin Encarnacion, RHP Jeferson Mejia, and RHP Jose Zapata) were injured in a crash in the Dominican Republic three years ago while en route to the Cubs Dominican Academy.
Encarnacion suffered a career-limiting shoulder injury and third-degree burns on his upper torso and was released last February, and Zapata sustained a broken neck and has yet to return to the mound (he has been serving as an assistant pitching coach for the AZL Cubs the last couple of seasons).
Mejia and de la Rosa recovered from their injuries and were eventually traded (Mejia to Arizona in the Miguel Montero deal in December 2014 and de la Rosa to Texas for RHRP Spencer Patton in November 2015).
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