Former Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie shares touching remembrance of Yordano Ventura
Jeremy Guthrie started Game 7 of the 2014 World Series for the Royals, one of only 80 pitchers ever to start in a winner-take-all game in the Fall Classic.
Guthrie got that opportunity in large part because of Yordano Ventura, who allowed just three hits over seven innings in Game 6 of the World Series.
While Guthrie left the Royals after the 2014 season, Ventura helped Kansas City win the World Series the following year. In 2016, Ventura made a career-best 32 starts and then tragedy struck.
Ventura died in a car crash on Jan. 22, 2017 in the Dominican Republic.
The sting of Ventura’s death has softened only a little since that terrible day. Friday would have been Ventura’s 31st birthday, and KCTV-5’s Jared Koller tweeted a nice video tribute.
Guthrie saw that and retweeted it. He also shared a nice remembrance of his former teammate, using the Ace nickname.
“Ace was such an electric personality & pitcher! He infused energy into an organization, team, & community that was on the rise,” Guthrie wrote. “He was the perfect story for KC & his story ended way too soon for all of us. He smiles from his place in the eternities, you have the sun as evidence!”
