On Monday a reporter in the Dominican Republic claimed that Yordano Ventura was alive immediately after his automobile accident and that he was robbed as he lay dying. The report was given wide dissemination by Pedro Martinez, who tweeted about it. Today the Kansas City Star reports that this claim, never confirmed by authorities, is not true.
Ventura died instantly, the Star reports, relaying that the coroner who examined Ventura told the Royals that he died on impact. What’s more, several items of jewelry, collected from the scene of the accident, were given directly to Ventura’s family by officials. His World Series ring was not among the personal effects, but it was not known if he had the ring with him at the time of the accident. One suspects that the presence of a World Series ring was assumed and its absence formed the basis of the now refuted report.
Thank goodness the initial report was unfounded. It’s a bad enough world and a bad enough story without further ugliness adding to it.