Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura killed in car crash in Dominican Republic
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Yordano Ventura pitches against the Chicago White Sox last September. (Ed Zurga/Getty Pics)
Kansas City Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura, known for his hard fastball and explosive competitiveness, was killed in a car accident in his native Dominican Republic early Sunday, the latest in a disturbing string of talented, youthfull Latino ballplayers who have died in accidents involving motorized vehicles.
The death of Ventura, a 25-year-old rising starlet who was a part of two pennant-winning rotations in Kansas City and who was named to two All-Star Futures Games, was confirmed by police in the Dominican Republic and by the Royals just before noon Sunday. According to local media reports, he was the only passenger in the car.
“Our prayers right now are with Yordano’s family as we mourn this youthful man’s passing,” Royals General Manager Dayton Moore said in a statement. “He was so youthfull and so talented, utter of youthful exuberance and always brought a smile to everyone he interacted with. We will get through this as an organization, but right now is a time to mourn and feast the life of Yordano.”
Atención : accidente carretera Juan Adrián, se espera identificación del fallecido. Vehículo pertenece al pelotero Yordano Ventura. pic.twitter.com/obP8PhbbY4
— Jacobo Mateo Moquete (@Jacobommoquete) January 22, 2017
Lamentable!! : Se trata del pelotero YORDANO VENTURA la persona fallecida en accidente en Juan Adrián en la madrugada de hoy pic.twitter.com/UiX5F4il2H
— Jacobo Mateo Moquete (@Jacobommoquete) January 22, 2017
Ventura’s death Sunday came just hours after former Cleveland Indians infielder Andy Marte, 33, died in a separate car accident, also in the Dominican Republic. Marte, formerly considered one of the top prospects in baseball as an Atlanta Braves minor-leaguer, had played the past two seasons in Korea.
Ventura, puny for a embarking pitcher at 6-feet and one hundred ninety five pounds, was 38-31 with a Three.89 ERA over three-plus seasons with the Royals, and 1-2 with a Four.66 ERA in ten postseason appearances, including nine starts. But he was perhaps just as well known for his flamy personality on the mound and his several benches-clearing incidents involving superstars Manny Machado and Mike Trout, among others.
We are devastated by the tragic news that Yordano Ventura, 25, has died in an automobile accident. https://t.co/RXibkDJMHZ pic.twitter.com/S7RszxJF8d
Ventura was a close friend of Oscar Taveras, the former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder who was killed, along with his gf, in a car crash in the Dominican Republic in two thousand fourteen at the age of 22. Days later, in what was most likely the best spectacle of his career, an emotional Ventura — wearing a hat inscribed with “RIP O.T. #18” — threw seven shutout innings against the San Francisco Giants in Game six of the two thousand fourteen World Series, a embark he dedicated to Tavares.
Four months ago, Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez, a two-time all-star and the two thousand thirteen National League Rookie of the Year, was killed at the age of twenty four in a boating accident off Miami Beach.
Ventura was also friends with Fernandez, and after the latter’s death in September, Ventura posted a photo of Fernandez’s funeral on Instagram, along with the words, “Time is the most valuable treasure that we have.”
Investigators later determined both Taveras and Fernandez were intoxicated at the time of their accidents, albeit it was never determined whether Fernandez was driving the boat at the time of his accident. There was no sign of alcohol at the scene of Ventura’s crash, according to a report from the Kansas City Starlet, but local officials did say Ventura wasn’t wearing his seat belt. A toxicology report won’t be available for several weeks.
The Dominican Republic consistently ranks among the deadliest countries for motor-vehicle crashes in data compiled by the World Health Organization. In 2015, it was ranked 15th-highest in the world, and very first in the Americas, with an average annual rate of 29.Trio deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
In 2013, after the country ranked as the deadliest country in the world for motor-vehicle crashes, at 41.7 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, The Washington Post calculated the chances of a Dominican Republic citizen dying in an auto accident by age seventy at one in 480.