Saddest Story of This Off-Season

The baseball world was stunned this week by news that Jose Valbuena and Jose Castillo had died in a car wreck during the winter ball season in Venezuela. The story took a darker turn Friday as we learned the crash was no accident -- their car was sabotaged by a rock on a roadway, with the intention of stopping their car so they could be robbed.
We've all read about the crime-ridden impoverished life facing many Venezuelans. But this is not a place for politics -- baseball should be our oasis from the uncertainty and tension that dominate the front pages.
Instead, brazen criminals took the lives of two of the people who helped made our oasis; Valbuena played 11 seasons in the majors, Castillo, five.
We mourn their lives cut short, we pray for their families. We're all reminded that even the space where we try and separate ourselves from ugly headlines can be invaded and soiled.
(My image of Valbuena is from the April 6th, 2016 Astros/Yankees game.)

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