St. Louis Cardinals Honor Oscar Taveras by Helping Current Players

The St. Louis Cardinals are set to launch full-squad workouts in Florida as spring training commences. Yet, they cannot seem to escape the biggest story of their offseason: the tragic death of Oscar Taveras. The team is not trying to hide from it, though.

When one of baseball's top prospects does something as careless as operating a vehicle while reportedly intoxicated, it is not something anyone ignores. The fans mention it. The media asks about it. The team as a whole has to address it.

On one hand, the players in the organization lost a friend and a colleague. They will pay respect to that throughout the season by wearing a patch on their uniforms. Still, as the whole team gathers for the first time this season, the organization felt it needed to address the situation.

Paul Lukas of ESPN recently opened the debate on "honoring" a player that died in such a way, and for the first time, the organization seems ready to step out of that shadow and into a much more important spotlight. The team will look to prevent their current players from making the same mistake.

Yes, they intend to wear a patch. But according to Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, they also intend to do much more. They will bring in guest speakers to talk about their experiences with drunk driving. They will take steps to educate players at all levels of the organization.

Possibly the most important fact that Miklasz discusses is the new car service that will be provided to players. Any player that is not able to drive can call a car service to provide them safe transportation home. No need to explain or be judged. Just make it home safely.

It will still be a challenge. There will still be grown men that don't want to make that phone call. Players will still make poor decisions. It has been, and continues to be, one of the most glaring reminders of an athlete's humanity. No matter how rich or famous, people still make mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes are fatal.

The Cardinals will start taking a more serious approach to trying to curtail those mistakes. After the loss of reliever Josh Hancock in 2007 and Taveras in 2014, it almost seems too late. Perhaps this is the best way to honor those two young men. Taking steps to ensure that future players will not make the same mistake is key.

At the very least, the team is doing far more than just wearing a patch on their uniform.

Bill Ivie is the founder of I-70 Baseball. Follow him on Twitter to discuss baseball anytime.