Baseball: Ventura electrified Naturals fans, too

Yordano Ventura, then with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, fires a pitch July 25, 2012, at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.
Yordano Ventura, then with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, fires a pitch July 25, 2012, at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.

SPRINGDALE -- Justin Cole was hopeful initial reports of the death of Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura were false, but after it was confirmed, his thoughts turned to the young Dominican's family and recollections of his time in Northwest Arkansas.

The hard-throwing right hander helped the Royals to back-to-back World Series appearances, including winning it in 2015. Before that he treated Northwest Arkansas Naturals fans to his big fastball and big smile for parts of two seasons in 2012 and 2013.

At A Glance

Yordano Ventura

BORN June 3, 1991

DIED Jan. 22, 2017

HEIGHT 5-11

WEIGHT 180

NOTABLE Made Major League debut Sept. 17, 2013. … Spent part of two seasons (2012, 2013) with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. … Pitched four seasons for the Kansas City Royals and helped them to the World Series title in 2015. … Went 1-2 with a 4.60 ERA in six starts in 2012, but was promoted to Triple-A Omaha in 2013 after going 3-2 in 11 starts with a 2.34 ERA with 74 strikeouts and just 20 walks in 57.2 innings.

"For sure, it's very shocking and sad," said Cole, who serves as the Naturals general manager. "At first, maybe you hope it's not true. But then when it's confirmed, your heart breaks for his family. I feel fortunate to have been able to see him play here.

"He was one of those singular talents. He was not a big guy, but you see this guy on the mound, and then you see the radar gun, and you say 'This doesn't really compute.'"

The 25-year-old Ventura died Sunday morning in an automobile accident in his native Dominican Republic.

Naturals manager Vance Wilson, who had Ventura in both Kane County and Wilmington, said it hits hard especially since the pitcher worked with so many of the minor league personnel in the Royals system.

"Obviously, it's been a rough 24 hours when you get a kid that does what he did to help us to two World Series appearances, when it's your own kid like that all the way down to rookie ball," Wilson said. "I was fortunate to have him. From a pure baseball standpoint, an arm like his doesn't come around very often. He's an innocent. He's all baseball. I never had to worry about anything off the field.

"He would just eat, sleep and do baseball. We were fortunate to see the growth of a many. It allowed our fans to be part of his growing up as a man and a Major League baseball player."

Ventura made six starts for the Naturals, the Royals' Double-A affiliate, near the end of the 2012 season, going 1-2 with a 4.60 ERA with 25 strikeouts and 13 walks in 29.1 innings. He dominated the Texas League in early 2013 and was promoted to Triple-A by June and made his Major League debut in September.

Cole said Ventura's performance was similar to Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez's time in Northwest Arkansas.

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"Seeing him put it together in 2013 and really dominate. I wasn't the GM then, and my interactions with the team were less, but I saw that enthusiasm and the way he interacted with fans. He had a live arm and a live personality, too. You could tell he loved being at the ballpark."

Wilson said a couple of situations come to mind when reflecting on Ventura, one professionally and one personally. He recalled riding in a car with the young pitcher in 2011 with his daughter, Peyton.

"She was in the backseat with him, talking nonstop and he didn't understand English," Wilson said. "But he just smiled at her. It was funny, but the thing was the respect he had. Another time was when he squared off against Dylan Bundy in a seven-inning game. The talk was all about Bundy, but you saw that competitive fire of what he was that day."

Sports on 01/24/2017

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