I saw the Andy Marte news first. I was having a quiet Sunday morning, reading The New York Times and Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography, my phone silent and face-down on a table next to me. When I picked it up, an MLB alert told me of Marte’s death in a car crash in the Dominican Republic.
My thoughts immediately went back to 2002 and the South Atlantic League All-Star Game in Lakewood, N.J. Marte was an 18-year-old third baseman in his first full season of professional baseball. One of the youngest players in the league, Marte earned his all-star nod with a league-high 11 home runs at the break — tied with Ryan Howard of the Lakewood BlueClaws and Robinson Cano of the Greensboro Bats. Through the 2016 season, those three have combined for 681 Major League home runs.
Then I saw that there was another MLB alert on my phone. Yordano Ventura. A promising young pitcher for the Royals, also dead in a car crash in the Dominican. Man.
I saw both play before they reached the Majors. Ventura threw one pitch in the 2013 Futures Game at Citi Field, inducing a
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MLB Stats for Yordano Ventura
Yordano Ventura Baseball Stats | Baseball Almanac
Yordano Ventura was born on Monday, June 3, 1991, in Saman�, Saman�, Dominican Republic. Ventura was 22 years old when he broke into the major leagues on September 17, 2013, with the Kansas City Royals. Yordano Ventura stats, height, weight, career totals, schools, positions, and more historical research are in the Baseball Almanac.
"With the fitting nickname of 'Ace,' (Yordano) Ventura burst onto the baseball scene with a 100 mph fastball and an explosive attitude to match. He was a fierce competitor always willing to challenge hitters inside, then deal with the ramifications when they decided to charge the mound. Not surprisingly, he quickly became a fan favorite as Kansas City embraced baseball once again." - Crasnick, Jerry. ESPN Staff Writer. Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura, 25, killed in car crash. 22 January 2017.