Veteran reliever who once no-hit Yankees dies in tragic accident in Dominican Republic

There are likely a few heavy hearts in the New York Yankees' clubhouse on Tuesday in Detroit, with best wishes primarily going towards Brad Ausmus. The longtime Astros catcher and current Yankees bench coach lost a battery mate this afternoon, as well-traveled reliever and longtime MLB stalwart Octavio Dotel, known for an impressive whip of a right arm, has passed away following a tragic incident in the Dominican Republic.

Dotel is one of 27 reported fatalities stemming from the collapse of the roof at the Jet Set club, a performance venue in Santo Domingo, early Tuesday morning. The right-hander was reportedly in attendance at a performance by merengue singer Rubby Pérez, and was initially dragged from the rubble still alive.

When he arrived at the hospital, his vital signs had disappeared, and he was pronounced deceased. Dotel, a Santo Domingo native, was 51 years old.

Relief pitcher Octavio Dotel passes way in tragic accident; participated in combined no-hitter against New York Yankees

Yankees fans will likely remember Dotel from either his early success with the crosstown Mets (an 8-3 record during the NL Pennant-winnng 1999 season) or the latter part of his career, when he was bedeviling the Yanks in the 2012 ALCS with the Tigers, one year after he revived his career and came up huge en route to the Cardinals' 2011 World Championship.

The Yankee Stadium-Dotel moment they'd rather forget, though, came on one wild day in the summer of 2003, when Astros ace Roy Oswalt was pulled with an injury after just a single inning of work. Any Yankee fan who believed they'd have a leg up on Houston was sorely mistaken; a combination of Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Dotel, and Billy Wagner combined to no-hit the Yankees 8-0. New York never stood a chance, and Dotel covered the crucial eighth inning.

While three Houston Astros went on to eventually no-hit the Yankees once more, equally improbably, in the summer of 2022, Dotel and Co.'s moment remains indelible to this day. The catcher on that June night, of course, was Ausmus, still wearing pinstripes today.

Our foremost thoughts will be with Dotel and his family as these tragic events continue to unfold.