Tuesday, August 7, 2012

RyanVentura highlight moment carries no animosity 19 years later

Robin Ventura is best known for essentially two things in his long baseball career. He had a 58-game hitting streak in college at Oklahoma State, and he got beaten up by a 46-year-old man after he charged the mound after being hit by a pitch in 1993.

That 46-year-old was Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, playing in his final season. Ventura had little success against Ryan, going 3 for 19 in his career and was twice hit by pitches. But when Ventura charged the mound on Aug. 4, 1993, it created a highlight that's perhaps the most famous brawl video ever. And they hadn't spoken since that night, not because there was a simmering feud, but just because their paths hadn't crossed.

They did on Friday, when Ventura - the new manager of the Chicago White Sox - faced the Texas Rangers, who are owned by Ryan. Ryan visited Ventura in the clubhouse.

"We talked, and I congratulated him for the last couple of years," Ventura said. according to the Chicago Tribune. "He has done a great job."

"It happened so long ago, and there's no animosity on anyone's part," Ryan said, according to the AP. "It was part of our careers, and just a response to the moment."



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