In time, the story of the supernova known as Yordano Ventura will seem like the stuff of myth.
First, there was his improbable rise out of a remote region of the Dominican Republic, where he at times seemed as one with the sea he credited for developing the right arm he further honed through working with concrete after dropping out of school at 14.
Then, there were the potholes, literal and figurative, on his way to being discovered and signed by the Royals into a mercurial baseball career marked by astounding ups and confounding downs.
Finally, there was his abrupt, shattering death at 25 years old early Sunday morning in a car crash in the Dominican.