Royals, family and friends pay respect to Yordano Ventura at funeral

Baseball and Dominican themes blended with the grieving and weeping at Yordano Ventura’s funeral Tuesday, as members of the Kansas City Royals organization joined a large outpouring of family members, friends and townspeople in paying their last respects.

The 25-year-old pitcher, killed in an auto accident early Sunday in his native Dominican Republic, was buried after a stop at the ballpark where he began a career that culminated with a World Series championship in 2015 and held promise of plenty more glory to come.

A procession through his coastal hometown of Las Terrenas, on a peninsula about 100 miles north of the capital city of Santo Domingo, was joined by thousands of mourners still stunned by the loss of such a young, talented athlete.

At the field where a scrawny Ventura used to unleash a fastball that would one day reach 100 mph, battery mate Salvador Perez addressed the crowd and specifically Ventura’s mother, Marisol Hernandez, as a Dominican flag and a baseball jersey with the pitcher’s name covered the casket.

“On behalf of the whole Kansas City team, the city and the state of Missouri, not only was he a friend or a teammate, but a brother,’’ Perez said in Spanish, his words captured on a video posted by the Kansas City Star. “We have known Yordano since he started to play ball in Kansas City. His (mound meltdowns) aside, he had a great heart. It’s sad to be here at this moment.

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“And Dona,’’ Perez added, talking to Hernandez, “stay strong. You have our support. And what you told us at your home we’ll never forget. After God, family. I truly regret the loss of our brother Ventura. Only God knows why these things happen. I love you, and on behalf of Venezuela and the Kansas City team, I wish you strength.’’

Members of the crowd sang the Dominican anthem before the procession – which included Royals president Dan Glass, general manager Dayton Moore, manager Ned Yost and players Eric Hosmer, Alcides Escobar and Mike Moustakas – headed for the cemetery. Perez and Hosmer were among the pallbearers.

Ventura, who won 38 games in his three full seasons in the majors and was one of the game’s hardest throwers, is the third prominent pro baseball player to die in a car crash in the Dominican Republic in the last 2 ½ years.

Former major leaguer Andy Marte perished in a separate accident Sunday, and St. Louis Cardinals prospect Oscar Taveras was killed – along with his girlfriend – in an alcohol-related car wreck in October 2014. It is not yet known whether alcohol was a factor in Ventura’s accident.

Timeline of events (in reverse chronology):

-- Ventura has been laid to rest at the cemetery. Royals players and front office board bus back to Santo Domingo.

-- Former Royals pitchers Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez are present with Ventura’s casket. The two were part of the rotation with Ventura that won the 2015 World Series title.

Gallery: Ventura's funeral in the Dominican

Gallery: Yordano Ventura through the years