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Royals hold private 'celebration of life' for Yordano Ventura
Five days after losing their ace, Yordano Ventura, in a car accident in the Dominican Republic, the Royals reunited in Kansas City on Friday to mourn his death and celebrate his life.
All winter the coaches and players had been scheduled to return this weekend for the club’s annual FanFest. That event is still taking place, but before kicking it off on Friday night the organization elected to hold a private “celebration of life” that included his teammates and team employees.
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MLB.com reports there were 300 observers on hand, and almost all of them were still coming to grips with the reality that a beloved member of their team and extended family wasn’t coming back.
Pitcher's mound at the Yordano Ventura memorial tribute pic.twitter.com/QVOeJ71Mpr
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) January 27, 2017
The ceremony included video tributes and photos of Ventura’s career, which at 25 had already included two trips to the World Series and one championship.
Then came the time for front-office executives, coaches and players to share stories and remembrances. That included pitching coach Dave Eiland, whose emotions were impossible to hide.
“God must have needed an ‘Ace’ in heaven,” Eiland told the gathering. “Well, he got one.”
Afterwards, many of his teammates shared where, when and how they first learned the shocking news, and how it’s impacted them since. Perhaps the most powerful anecdote came from Drew Butera, a backup catcher who spent a lot of time working with Ventura during his development.
En route, Butera was interviewed on KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City and was asked about two pitchers in particular: Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura.
“I think it was 10:30, and I went over to my parents’ house for breakfast and my dad goes, ‘Oh, my God,’ ” Butera recalled. “I was sitting at my parents house and pulled it up on Twitter and was like, ‘No way, this can’t be real.’ Ten minutes ago, I was just talking about him.”
The wound is still fresh and the loss is still painful, but the Royals realize they’ll have to heal in order to move on. Friday may have started that process for some, but with a new season right around the corner they’ll be reminded of his absence and forced to fight those emotions every single day.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
