Vahe Gregorian had been to the Dominican Republic for a story about Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura before.
That was in early 2015, just months after the talented right-hander burst into baseball’s consciousness with a dominant performance in Game 6 of the World Series. Gregorian, a columnist at The Kansas City Star, travelled to Ventura’s home to report a profile story.
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A few weeks ago Gregorian returned, under much different circumstances. Along with photographer John Sleezer, he was there to cover the funeral of Ventura, who tragically lost his life at age 25 in a car crash.
Gregorian live-blogged the proceedings and wrote several heart-wrenching columns. The scenes he witnessed — Salvador Perez, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas walking side by side with thousands of mourning locals, for example — were unique. Few sportswriters see things like that in their careers.
I caught up with Gregorian by phone after he arrived home in Missouri and spoke to him about his experience.
Yordano seemed misunderstood to the larger baseball world, Toronto included. How did his teammates view him?
Like a lot of competitors he was a different persona on the field than off. At least in terms of the clubhouse and where his role stood there. I do think a lot of [teammates] saw him as a little brother in part because the age and how many of them had come up together … Also, it’d be fair to say because of his temperament and the need for some structure around him, I think they tried to approach it that way. He was a pleasant presence in the clubhouse no doubt, but I think people on the team at times were frustrated by him.
It’s notable for me that even amid the grieving you didn’t hear anyone say he was a saint. You did hear people say he wasn’t understood properly — even Royals guys acknowledged he could be a knucklehead on the field. Maybe Dayton Moore, the Royals general manager, said it best: ‘We loved him for the challenges he gave us.’ I thought there was something very real about how they looked at that.
Yordano Ventura chats with Royals catcher Salvador Perez during Game 6 of the 2014 World Series against the Giants. (Matt Slocum/AP)
What did he mean to the people in his hometown of Las Terrenas?
When we went in 2015 it was just after the World Series and the extremely memorable Game 6 in which he pitched beautifully in what would have been an elimination game, but also honouring [countryman] Oscar Taveras [who died in a car accident]. He certainly was already admired in the Dominican but I think that took it to another level. Our understanding was when he came home, thousands were gathered at a nearby toll both and lined the streets of Las Terrenas to welcome him. Our experience there with him was interesting in the sense that he was certainly recognized. We’d see his pictures — an image of him outside of a local sports bar or somebody driving by with ‘Ventura 30’ on their car.
You were on a three-hour bus ride to the funeral with several Royals players. What was that like?
The Royals felt that it was important for their fans to have some connection to this day … They thought it was important for Kansas City to share in this and that it be documented as much as possible. I thought that was sophisticated and sensitive all at once. Because of that we ended up on the Royals bus and it’s about an 80-seat bus and there’s 35 people on it. Our brilliant photographer John Sleezer and I got on the bus and we just tried to go by feel. Trusting that feeling that I knew people like Sal and Hosmer would want to talk but knowing you had to figure out when they would want to …
We just tried to feel like ‘We’re not eavesdropping, but we’re in here.’ There were some people angry at me — maybe angry is too strong — but I got a couple tweets saying they didn’t understand why I was giving such intimate details from inside the room where the casket was. I don’t know whether that was the right decision or not. I didn’t go into everything that you saw [on my blog]. I thought it was important to convey the feeling of what the room felt like.
Can you describe the setting and tone of his funeral service?
We get to the front door [of the house where the viewing was taking place] and the first thing I see is David Ortiz greeting people, which was quite moving, actually. He was just standing at the door. As you know, just a larger than life figure. Really shaking everybody’s hand as they came in. I’d never met him before but treating me as if he knew me.
Then we went into a small room where [Ventura’s] casket was … The most striking aspect of that was Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar standing at the casket for a long time and looking at Yordano’s face. Sal Perez had, the night before, let on that he didn’t accept that Yordano was really dead. I don’t think he meant it in any literal way or facetious way but the point was that he needed to see him. He couldn’t sleep the night before because he was feeling like Yordano was, as he put it, ‘Leave me alone Yordano, I need to sleep.’
There was a little bit of a sense of closure in there. There was a lot of emotional noise — you could hear weeping and wailing and a lot of inconsolable people. Most of the time I was conscious of one Royal or another just holding Yordano’s mom or Yordano’s aunt. I didn’t have a stopwatch running but I think for long minutes, they would hug her and she would say their last name: ‘Hosmer’ or ‘Moustakas.’ It was very stirring. I think the important thing too is it was a very difficult, disturbing thing for a lot of them but I think it was also important … I think it gave them a start on trying to get their arms around this in a way they couldn’t before. I think the power of a shared experience was important for them on many personal levels …
[pullquote] “There was a little bit of feeling that all these people are together in this.” [/pullquote]
I think it’s also important to note that it ended with Dayton Moore just sort of walking in the middle of the room and taking the hands of some relatives of Yordano’s and telling them how loved he was but also saying that it was an honour and privilege to mourn with them … It gave me goosebumps. I felt like it was so powerful. It was just such an expression of true empathy and there was a lot of that.
What about it gave you goosebumps?
When he spoke that way I just thought it was such a powerful thing to feel the moment as he did. I know words are only words, but I think it offered truth and sincere understanding of ‘We are in this with you’ and conveying it that way. My experience with him is that he is a very compassionate man and meant it with all his heart and that, I think, had meaning to them. It further stated that the Royals will continue to be involved in the family’s life. There’s some complications ahead with what happens with [toxicology results] but I do feel the Royals will do more than what they have to do to commemorate Yordano’s life and be good to his family.
You wrote that players and front-office personnel were ‘arm-in-arm’ with thousands of locals at the funeral. Have you ever seen anything like this?
At the house there was a visitation. We’re leaving and then the casket is being taken out. A number of the Royals players were pallbearers. They load the casket on to the truck and Sal and Hosmer get on the back of the truck with it and it goes out on the street. The first stop is the ball field where Ventura learned to play. They take it on to the pitcher’s mound and thousands of people are gathered there. It was a very powerful scene to walk into. People standing at every possible angle to be able to see and yet very orderly. That’s a mile or so from his house. Then there’s a good mile and a half to the graveyard …
Salvador Perez, left, and Eric Hosmer ride in the truck carrying Yordano Ventura’s casket. (John Sleezer/The Kansas City Star via AP)
I think something drove the players to want to be among the people. They don’t get on the bus, we all walk and it was just in itself very powerful. Nobody was separated in any way. You’re watching people dressed to the nines, soaked to the skin in sweat — it’s a 90-degree day. Literally elbow to elbow as you’re walking cause there’s no room on the street and you’re surrounded by all these little mopeds going two miles an hour. There’s was something, for lack of a better term, communal about it. Healing is a strong word I don’t know that that’s even the right word, but there was a little bit of feeling that all these people are together in this.
Is there a fine line you have to walk as a journalist covering an event like this?
Yeah, completely there is and I think it’s something I’ve reflected on and don’t necessarily know how to answer in terms of did I find the right line. My thought going into something like this is err on the side of caution, not be in people’s faces and yet I did know this: The players would want to talk about him. I just needed to figure out how and when they would want to talk about him.
Were you overcome with emotions at any point?
I never got that way for some reason. I felt the emotions but it just didn’t quite hit me that way. I certainly knew Yordano but I wouldn’t suggest I knew him particularly well, despite the [2015] trip I made down there. But obviously you can feel the anguish of a 25-year-old suddenly dying in a car accident and you can feel what it means to other people. You’re pretty lasered in on the job. What I felt like all day was that meant trying to understand the feelings all the people had, whether it was directly in the organization or it was our audience back home.
This sounds kind of hokey but when you think about what our job is, if you’re thinking about ‘How do I serve the audience’ then what you’re trying to do is bring them there as much as you can. The odd thing about this particular trip is the feeling of connection through Twitter, of all things. It became almost live play by play from there. John Sleezer was doing Facebook Live from the pitcher’s mound [near the casket]. It was, not to be overly clinical, but kind of a fascinating thing that it was able to bring so many people there.
It’s been well-documented that the Royals are a tight-knit group. Moustakas’s mother died a few years ago. They’ve grieved together in the past and are doing so now. How do you see this tragedy impacting them during this season?
I think the Royals will handle this properly. I have seen instances where people are almost trivializing somebody’s death by — I’m using air quotes around this — using it. I don’t think there’s any remote possibility it will be that way. I think it will be truly infused to these guys, not necessarily the ‘Let’s win for Yordano thing.’ I don’t think that’s how this plays out. But I do think it plays out in a lot of guys looking to themselves often and saying, ‘I have this moment in the world and nothing is assured to me and, if nothing else, I can honour his death by giving all I have.’
[Royals pitcher] Danny Duffy, for instance, I heard him speaking the other day. He just sort of talked about ‘This is a reminder that life itself is a miracle and we should take advantage of the miracle.’
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