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KC Royals: So Many Yordano Ventura Memories In So Little Time

By Mike Courson |
Aug 2, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura (30) on the mound against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 2, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura (30) on the mound against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
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Aug 17, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura (30) sits in dugout during the second inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 17, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura (30) sits in dugout during the second inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

KC Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura has left fans across major league baseball with a wealth of memories in his short, three-year career.

What a way to wake up Sunday morning. I admit, I’m a late sleeper on the weekends, and I was in bed when my sister called just after 11 a.m.. “Did you hear who died?” That’s never a good way to start the day. Fortunately, it was no one close in my life. Unfortunately, it was Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura.

I’m not one to jump on the saint bandwagon. We do that too often in death, and in a way, it cheapens who the person was. Ventura was likely not a saint, but there is still plenty of reason to be sad.

I’m a relative newcomer to the Royals – I became a fan in 2008 while waiting for late scores on press nights at a weekly newspaper. They were pretty terrible back then.

Never really concerned with the winning, my collection of KC Royals gear continued to grow each year as I began to build an identity around an organization that, honesty, has no idea I exist. That never mattered to me. For whatever reason, the nightly televised games were a great distraction for me.

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The distraction usually disappears for a good six months out of the year as the Kansas CIty Royals are eliminated from playoff contention or the season ends. In 2013, Kansas City just missed the playoffs. Personally, the end of that year was setting me up for a disaster of a 2014.

Oct 23, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Right Handed Pitcher Yordano Ventura has shared the Royals team lead in wins in back-to-back years. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 23, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Right Handed Pitcher Yordano Ventura has shared the Royals team lead in wins in back-to-back years. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /

More Distratction

That January, I attended my first Fan Fest in Kansas City. I figured I could treat myself to a getaway, but it turned out my sister and nephews had the same idea and tagged along. Since the KC Royals had merely gotten close to the playoffs that year, the crowd at Fan Fest was still small. Ventura happened to be our first autograph.

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Wouldn’t you know, that’s the year the Kansas City Royals advanced to Game 7 of the World Series, thanks in large part to Ventura’s performance in Game 6. That meant baseball was interesting after the All-Star game. It meant the Royals played in that unforgettable Wild Card game against Oakland. It meant a lot of extra baseball and a lot of extra distraction.

Since then, my love of the KC Royals has only intensified. Fan Fest has given me the opportunity to get books signed by Lefebvre and Denny Matthews. I had my picture taken with Hudler. I spoke with Dayton Moore. I’ve met a few of the players. It never mattered that we were still strangers. They felt like family.

Just this last year, I won the opportunity to sit in the dugout suite at Kauffman Stadium. That was my first opportunity to touch the soil at my favorite ballpark, and Ventura pitched for the win that night. A few weeks later, I had the opportunity to take batting practice and field some balls at the “K.”

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Celebrating Ventura’s life

Now, the trip to Fan Fest is an annual must. Less than a week away, this year’s event has been marred by Ventura’s death. Or so I thought.

Throughout Sunday, I saw several social media posts about Ventura’s legacy. I heard comments from Moore, Lefebvre, and Hudler. I saw Danny Duffy and Christian Colon hug fans in the parking lot at Kauffman Stadium.

Wait a minute, Fan Fest is going to be amazing. Ventura was far from a perfect young man, but he was at the heart of so, so many great memories. My girlfriend’s kids have been to one Royals game in their life: it happened to be a game I ruined by rushing everyone to the gate so we could get our bobbleheads. Yordano Ventura bobbleheads.

I’ve looked at my Ventura bobblehead many times today. I’ve held the baseball he signed. I looked up pictures from that first Fan Fest. By no means was I his biggest fan. I’ve written about his antics on this website before. But he was part of the Kansas City Royals Royals family. He was just a kid.

And that’s what ultimately brought me to tears. What could Ventura have been? Now we’ll never know.

Next: Yordano Ventura Tragedy Need Not Ruin 2017 Season

Looking ahead to this weekend’s Fan Fest, I’m hopeful to see a tribute to Ventura. Here is a young man, albeit a complete stranger, despite his faults, who brought light to my life in a time of darkness. I will never get to thank him for that, but I hope I get the opportunity to celebrate his life with his teammates.

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