Inside The Dodgers

Former Dodgers Pitcher Tragically Dies After Night Club Roof Collapses in Dominican Republic

Gabe Smallson|
Aug 31, 2010; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Octavio Dotel (26) pitches in the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium. The Phillies defeated the Dodgers 8-4. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-Imagn Images
Aug 31, 2010; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Octavio Dotel (26) pitches in the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium. The Phillies defeated the Dodgers 8-4. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Dodgers

Former 15-year MLB veteran and World Series champion Octavio Dotel has passed away after being rescued from the rubble at the Jet Set night club in the Dominican Republic due to the collapse of the roof, MLB insider Hector Gomez reported on X.

Dotel, 51, died while being transferred to the hospital.

He played for 13 different MLB teams, including a stint on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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Dotel started his longstanding baseball career with the New York Mets mostly in a starting pitcher role that first season in 1999. The following season, he landed with the Houston Astros for four full seasons before being traded to the Oakland Athletics in 2004.

After finishing out the '05 campaign in Oakland, Dotel made his way to the New York Yankees for a season. He then split time with the Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves during the 2007 campaign.

The next season, 2008, started a two-year stint with the Chicago White Sox. After that, 2010 brought appearances for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dodgers, and Colorado Rockies.

After starting the 2011 campaign as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, a now 37-year-old Dotel made his way to the St. Louis Cardinals and added to the magic around that team.

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That postseason featured 12 appearances from Dotel, including five World Series outings on his way to finally earning the elusive Commissioner's trophy.

Dotel made his way to the Detroit Tigers the following season and almost added another ring to his collection, but his team lost the Fall Classic to the San Francisco Giants in 2012.

The right-hander would end his baseball career in Detroit after six outings during the 2013 season.

He is tied with fellow pitcher Rich Hill as they both played for 13 ball clubs over their careers, which is good for the second-highest mark in MLB history.

Dotel is a career 3.78 ERA pitcher with 1,143 strikeouts to just 412 walks, 109 saves, and 951 innings pitched over his time in MLB.

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For more Dodgers news, head over to Dodgers on SI.

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Gabe Smallson
GABE SMALLSON

Gabe Smallson is a sportswriter based in Los Angeles. His focus is sports and entertainment content. Gabe has previously worked at DodgersNation and Newsweek. He graduated from San Francisco State University in 2020 and is a Masters Candidate at the University of Southern California. You can get in touch with Gabe by emailing gabe.smallson@lasportsreport.com. You can find him on X @gabesmallson

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