KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One year ago, Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic. He was 25-years old.
As the day drew nearer, the Kansas City Royals knew they needed to honor their friend and teammate, so many took a trip to Yordano’s hometown of Las Terrenas. Teammates conducted a clinic for 75 local youth at the Estadio Municipal, the baseball field where Yordano grew up. Yordano’s mother, Marisol Hernández, came to the clinic as well, which was led by Royals minor league players.
At the clinic, Royals Charities, through the ACE 30 Fund, announced its support of renovations to the Estadio Municipal ball field. Royals Charities/ACE 30 Fund will help pay for extensive field work, leveling the outfield and repairing the infield playing surface, repairing the dugouts, painting the backstop and stands, and adding new netting and bullpen tunnels for pitchers and batters to use.
Take a look in the photo gallery below at the visit to Las Terrenas, Yordano’s hometown, and the fun everyone had at the clinic, in rain or shine. Photos are from Saturday, Jan. 13th and provided by the Kansas City Royals and photographers Zach and Kelli Wanner.
The group also stopped by the field it funded in Guerra, Dominican Republic. Less than two weeks before he died, Yordano Ventura joined Royals Charities and the Royals Dominican Academy to present a grant to renovate a youth baseball field in Guerra, DR. The field had fallen into disrepair with overgrown grass and an uneven infield. On January 11, 2017, Yordano presented the grant and with that funding, the DR Academy & Grounds Crew oversaw the construction to create a place for kids to play baseball where they couldn’t play before. The youth field is located about 10 min from the Academy in a densely populated neighborhood near a school in Guerra.
See the photo gallery below for pictures from January 11, 2017, when Yordano presented the check for repair of the Guerra field. You’ll also see the ‘before and after’ pictures of the field.