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Thousands are feared dead in Venezuela after two massive earthquakes, but a former MLB pitcher is one of the lucky ones.
Jenrry Mejia, who now pitches in the Venezuelan Major League, said that divine intervention in an elevator saved his life during the earthquakes.
Speaking to a Dominican radio station, Mejia said he had just finished working out at the Hotel Eduards in La Guaira when, instead of going to the floor where he was staying, the elevator took him to the lobby, allowing him to escape.
“I was in the gym area. And at that moment, I took the elevator to leave,” Mejia told “Mañana Deportiva.”
“In fact, I had pressed number 6, which was where my floor was. But … I think it was God because instead of going up, it went down to the basement,” he continued. “The door opened directly into the lobby. That’s when I came out and the building started to collapse.”
Mejia helped an older man out of the hotel and believes the two of them are the only ones to make it out of the hotel alive.
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“The others are still there, trapped under the rubble,” he said.
The hotel, according to the New York Post, citing local reports, was hosting the families of players and staff members from the Delfines and the Guerreros de Lara baseball teams, with relatives of former MLB players Eliezer Alfonso and Gorkys Hernández missing.
Mejia pitched parts of five seasons for the New York Mets, becoming their closer in 2014, one year before they made it to the World Series. However, he ultimately became the first baseball player to be banned from Major League Baseball for life for violating its performance-enhancing drug policy.
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Mejia was suspended for 80 games for his first offense in 2015. After pitching in seven games, he tested positive again and was given a 162-game suspension. The following February, he tested positive for a third time, prompting his ban. He has since applied for and been granted reinstatement but has not pitched in the major leagues since. He did play minor-league ball for the Boston Red Sox organization.
The death toll has risen to 589 with thousands reported missing.
Venezuela won the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.
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