Former Pirates pitcher killed in roof collapse

The Pittsburgh Pirates are mourning the loss of Octavio Dotel, the former relief pitcher who was among at least 44 people killed when a nightclub roof collapsed Monday night in his native Dominican Republic.

Dotel was among the crowd attending a concert by merengue singer Rubby Perez at Jet Set in Santo Domingo. Dotel, 51, was rescued from the rubble but died while being transferred to a hospital. About 160 people were believed to be injured. That includes Tony Blanco, 44, a former Washington Nationals player who is the father of the Pirates’ No. 21 prospect, 19-year-old first baseman/ outfielder Tony Blanco Jr.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton started his pregame news conference Tuesday by extending his condolences to the families of Dotel and seven-time All-Star Nelson Cruz, whose sister was killed.

“Obviously, Octavio played here. He was in the league when I was coaching,” Shelton said. “And to Nelson Cruz, he lost a sister. Nelson is a very dear and personal friend of mind and people in our clubhouse. My thoughts and prayers go out.”

The Pirates are one of 13 teams Dotel pitched for in 15 major league seasons, which set a major league record in 2012 that has since been broken by Edwin Jackson.

Dotel, a 6-foot, 230-pound right-hander, signed a oneyear, $3.25-million deal with incentives. He was 2-2 with a 4.28 ERA and 21 saves in 41 games for the Pirates before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitcher James McDonald and first baseman Andrew Lambo.

Dotel won a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011 and the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic in 2013. He had a career record of 59-50 with a 3.78 ERA and 190 saves in 758 appearances, recording 1,143 strikeouts.

Shelton was the bench coach with the Minnesota Twins when Cruz was their designated hitter in 2019. Cruz’s sister, Nelsy, was governor of the province of Montecristi.

“Major League Baseball is deeply saddened by the passings of Octavio Dotel, Tony Blanco, Nelsy Cruz and all the victims of last night’s tragedy in Santo Domingo,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We send our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of all those who have been affected and to our colleague Nelson and his entire family. The connection between baseball and the Dominican Republic runs deep, and we are thinking of all the Dominican players and fans across the game today.”