SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Minutes before the start of the Royals' Cactus League opener against the Rangers, the memory of Yordano Ventura was honored at Surprise Stadium.
The stadium flags flew at half-staff, as players and coaches from both teams stood along the foul lines to pay tribute to Ventura, who died last month in a car accident in the Dominican Republic.
Rangers players Carlos Gomez and Adrian Beltre placed a floral tribute on the mound.

After a video showed highlights of Ventura's career, Surprise city official Wayne Turner presented a plaque to Royals manager Ned Yost in honor of Ventura. The plaque will permanently remain on a stadium wall.

The plaque doesn't mean Ventura is in the Surprise Recreation Campus Hall of Fame, but he technically already is along with the rest of the 2015 World Series champion Royals.