By Brendan Kohler
Panther’s Tale
I fondly remember the first time I saw Yordano Ventura pitch in person.
No, it wasn’t a typical summer Royals game at Kauffman Stadium. It was the 2012 Futures Game at Kauffman Stadium, which takes place every year as part of MLB’s All-Star Weekend. It is basically an All-Star game for the promising young stars of every team’s minor league system.
Because the game was in Kansas City, Kauffman Stadium was filled with Royals fans. Three players from the Royals’ minor league system were scheduled to play that day — Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi and Ventura.
Most Royals fans were looking forward to watch Wil Myers play in Kauffman Stadium for the first time, hopefully to get a preview of what he could do there in an actual Royals uniform.
I’m not like most Royals fans. I was looking forward to watch the young 21-year-old right-handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic named Ventura.
Ventura started the game for the World team that day. He pitched just one inning, as most do in an All-Star game. What I remember most about that one inning, in which he did not allow a hit, was the last out.
Myers stepped up to the batter’s box to face Ventura in a showdown of KC-affiliated players. Ventura won the battle against Myers, who finished the at-bat with a soft groundout to end the inning.
One of the pitches that Ventura threw in that at-bat lit up the radar gun at 100 mph. I remember thinking that I’d end up seeing the same sight multiple times — it was 68 times to be exact — once he became a member of the Royals.
Neither Myers nor Odorizzi have played a major-league game for the Royals. They were both traded to Tampa Bay later in the year in a package deal that sent James Shields and Wade Davis to Kansas City. Every pitch that came out of Ventura’s hand on a major-league mound was as a member of the Kansas City Royals.
Ventura made his major league debut on Sept. 17, 2013, against the Cleveland Indians. His major league debut was like none other — he set a record that day.
In the third inning, he threw a pitch to Yan Gomes that was recorded at 102.8 miles per hour. This still stands as the fastest pitch a starting pitcher has ever thrown in a regular-season game.
I watched Ventura pitch in person two more times after that summer night in 2012. The first was in July 2014, a game against the Indians in which he pitched 6 1/3 innings and struck out seven batters.
The second time was in June 2015 against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. He pitched three innings that night and was forced to come out of the game because of an injury.
Ventura quickly became my favorite pitcher on the Royals. His infectious smile and fire fastball made him easy to like and fun to watch.
Then came the fighting incidents. Ventura was in the middle of four separate brawls during his career. It’s hard to say exactly what caused each of them, but from my point of view, I think Ventura was simply misunderstood at first.
Then he showed that he was willing to defend his teammates, and this put a target on his back. Probably even more so because teams knew that they could get Ventura riled up.
The last incident of his career happened on June 7, 2016, against the Baltimore Orioles. He hit Orioles third baseman Manny Machado with a 99 mph fastball. Machado charged the mound, punches were thrown and both were ejected from the game.
After this, combined with Ventura’s talent — and the tendency to have a fight break out at any time during his starts — he was becoming must-watch TV every time he took the mound.
I think that Ventura really learned a lesson that night, though, and I believe that on the mound he was becoming more mature.
This season could have been his breakout season. All of the signs were pointing to it. He was finally getting control of himself and his pitches on the mound.
But we will never know if Ventura could have ever fulfilled the enormous potential he showed.
On Jan. 22, Ventura was killed in a single car crash when he lost control of his custom Jeep Wrangler in his native country of the Dominican Republic.
Ventura was 25 years old.
I remember waking up that Sunday morning. It seemed like any other morning until I checked my phone.
My lock screen was filled with notifications and texts from friends saying that Ventura had died. I thought to myself that none of this could be real. I turned on the TV to MLB Network and nothing was being said about it originally. I was calm during that time until a breaking news story came up and announced his death.
I couldn’t hold back my tears knowing that the player I looked up to so much was now gone. This was a dream that I wasn’t waking up from. I can only imagine how painful this was for not only his family but for his teammates. They saw him as a brother, and it was obvious how much they really cared about him.
The image that stands out in my head most from that day was a picture of Royals pitcher Danny Duffy and infielder Christian Colon. They had both come to Kauffman Stadium to try to somehow take in the tragedy that had just occurred.
Many of Royals fans had the same idea. A temporary memorial was set up by Royals fans in front of the stadium. A candlelight vigil was held for him later that night at the memorial.
My two favorite moments of Ventura’s career showcase both his pure skill and his comedic side that fans did not often see, but which his teammates loved and laughed with every day.
The first moment was Game 6 of the 2014 World Series against the San Francisco Giants. Ventura started the game, and threw seven shutout innings, only allowing three hits, while forcing the series to Game 7.
He was quoted after the game saying that he threw in honor of his friend, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras, who was killed in the Dominican Republic in a car accident that had occurred earlier in the week.
The image stands in my mind vividly of him holding a Dominican flag and saying that he was proud to be a Dominican. That night showed how poised he was for success on a big stage.
The second moment occurred after the Royals had Game 6 of the 2015 ALCS, punching their ticket to the World Series for the second straight year.
Ventura was being interviewed in the postgame celebration along with teammates Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez, who had been dubbed by Royals fans as the Dominican Trio. Volquez handed Ventura a flag that read “The Pennant Will Rise: 2015 American League Champions.”
“Ooh baby, we go to the World Series again, ooh baby!”, Ventura said laughing.
I remember laughing along with them and just being excited that the Royals were in the World Series again. The Royals won the 2015 World Series.
I saw Ventura in person once more along with the whole team when I attended the championship parade and rally that ended at Union Station in Kansas City. That will be a day of pure joy that I’ll remember my whole life.
On Monday night, Ventura’s mother will be throwing out the first pitch at Kauffman Stadium for the Royals’ home opener of this season. A tribute will be held before the game, celebrating the life of Ventura.
I think this will be something most Royals fans will want to see. A final remembrance of the life of the electric young pitcher.
Not a day goes past that I don’t think about Ventura. He was taken from this world too soon, just like his friend Oscar Taveras and a handful of MLB players who have died at a young age this past decade.
I will remember him most by two traits of his, which are also pictures that hang on my wall. One is of him winding up to fire a pitch into the batter’s box at an incomprehensible speed. The other is a posed picture of him, with a smile on his face that lights up my room, and with a baseball in his hand.
I am hoping that Monday night will mark the next chapter for the Royals, the end of a tragedy and the light of a new road. But us Royals fans will always remember and miss Ventura no matter what.
Fly high, Ace.