ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The St. Louis Cardinals facilities in the Dominican Republic was robbed by armed men early Friday morning, the team announced in a statement.
According to Cardinals, between between 12:30 am and 4 a.m., Atlantic Time early Friday morning, a group of armed thieves broke into the club's Dominican Republic complex in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic.
The thieves stole money, cell phones, jewelry, and baseball equipment from the academy, according to the team. Local police was called immediately and the robbery is being investigated.
Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said in a statement Friday no one was injured during the robbery but the situation has players and staffers visibly shaken.
"This was scary on many fronts. Our players and staff were shaken up but not harmed. No one was injured, and we will reassess our security provisions immediately," said Mozeliak.
According to Dominican baseball journalist Hector Gomez, the Cardinals was one of the few MLB facilities in the area to have been hit by armed men in the last few weeks. According to Gomez, facilities of the Cleveland Guardians and Miami Marlins in the Dominican Republic were also robbed.
BREAKING NEWS: Armed men broke into the St Louis Cardinals Academy, in DR, taking the players out of their rooms and holding coaches hostage at gun point. They robbed money and jewlerly from various players.
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) October 13, 2023
In the past few weeks the Cleveland Guardians' and Miami Marlins' have… pic.twitter.com/pAw0HvrGNM
The Cardinals have had a facility in the Dominican Republic since 2005. In 2015, the team opened their current facilities in Boca Chica, a coastal town about 30 minutes away from the country's capital of Santo Domingo.
Former Cardinals Pitcher Carlos Martinez and late-Cardinals Outfielder Oscar Taveras were some of the first players to have been a part of the team's operations in the Dominican Republic.
