Robin Ventura is retiring

[qwerty]

"I will always feel like I'm a White Sox."

-Robin Ventura

 

A nice article about Robin on CS.com:

Here

 

That quote is part of the article towards the end when he was asked about accepting a coaching position.

I can really see him being with the sox one way or another in the next year or two.

[southsider2k5]

"I will always feel like I'm a White Sox."

-Robin Ventura

 

A nice article about Robin on CS.com:

Here

 

That quote is part of the article towards the end when he was asked about accepting a coaching position.

It would be nice if he could just sit with Crede and give him some of the mental approach to the game. If he could do that, this team would be in way better shape.

[greasywheels121]

"I will always feel like I'm a White Sox."

-Robin Ventura

 

A nice article about Robin on CS.com:

Here

 

That quote is part of the article towards the end when he was asked about accepting a coaching position.

Robin is the man. I know it's a little weird, but I like having all the former players on the staff in one way or another.

[DBAHO]

Robin is the man.  I know it's a little weird, but I like having all the former players on the staff in one way or another.

With Santana probably leaving as the 1st base coach, is there any chance maybe we could get Robin to fill that role if Baines doesn't? Or maybe we could get Robin invovled with one of the minor - league affilates.

[greasywheels121]

With Santana probably leaving as the 1st base coach, is there any chance maybe we could get Robin to fill that role if Baines doesn't? Or maybe we could get Robin invovled with one of the minor - league affilates.

I'm unsure if he'll come over here in 2005, but with the way he was quoted in the article, it certainly isn't out of the question.

[Sox1422]

I know exactly what month you're talking about.  July of 1991.  Robin went nuts that month.  He hit 12 hr's with 36 rbi's.  He ended the month with a walk off grand slam against the Texas Rangers.  The Sox won the game 10-8.  I'll never forget the image of Robin on Frank's shoulder being manhandled.  God I miss the early 90's 

I remember that clear as day. I even remember Hawks call

 

"High and deep to right field..."

 

That was awesome.

[WilliamTell]

I haven't been on the board for a few days, just heard about Robin and I just want to say that he's my favorite Sox of all time.

[BearsWhiteSox23]

Ventura was one of my favorite players. Great all around player (well except speed). I would retire his #.

[israel4ever]

Didn't RV leave Chicago on bad terms with ownership? I seem to recall that he "badmouthed" ownership and/or management and...he gawn!

[CSF]

Didn't RV leave Chicago on bad terms with ownership? I seem to recall that he "badmouthed" ownership and/or management and...he gawn!

Maybe not.

 

From the Sun-Times:

Ventura announces retirement

 

October 12, 2004

 

BY DOUG PADILLA Staff Reporter Advertisement

 

 

In a career that spanned 16 seasons, Robin Ventura left his mark on more than just the playing field.

 

"I think Robin Ventura was incredible to the [sox] franchise above and beyond his playing skills,'' said chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who granted a rare interview to talk about the former Sox third baseman. "He is a marvelous person and human being, and one of my four or five favorite White Sox players of all time.''

 

Ventura retired Sunday night after the Los Angeles Dodgers were eliminated from the playoffs. Ventura, 37, spent nine full seasons with the Sox after making his debut in 1989, a year after he was the 10th overall selection in the amateur draft out of Oklahoma State.

 

 

VENTURA'S HIGHWAY

 

Robin Ventura is retiring after 16 years in the major leagues. He was considered one of the greatest hitters in college history -- he had a 58-game hitting streak at Oklahoma State -- but his pro career never approached that level of hype. Still, he was a solid major-leaguer and two-time All-Star. Here's a look at some of his better numbers:

Best season: 1999 with the Mets; 32 HR, 120 RBI, led league with .980 fielding average.

Fits like a glove: Six Gold Gloves at third base.

Midseason classic: Two All-Star game appearances (1992, 2002).

Career numbers: 294 HR, 1,182 RBI, .267 BA.

Postseason: Participated in four postseasons: '93 with White Sox; '99-'00 with Mets; '02 with Yankees.

 

 

Ventura batted .274 in 1,254 games with the Sox, adding 171 of his 294 career home runs. He had 741 RBI with the Sox along with 219 doubles among his 1,244 hits while on the South Side.

 

"Physically, it gets tougher all the time,'' Ventura told the Los Angeles Daily News after Sunday's game. "It wouldn't have been fair to come back and not be able to play in the field as I should. It wouldn't be fair to [Dodgers manager Jim Tracy] to have to put up with that.''

 

Tracy said toward the end of the season that the door was open to Ventura returning as a player next season. Now that he has made his retirement official, Reinsdorf also has opened a door, this one to a front office or coaching position.

 

"I'm sure we'll be in contact with him,'' Reinsdorf said. "If Robin Ventura picked up the phone today and said he would like to return, there would a job for him. Whatever he wanted to do, there would be a job for him.''

 

Before retiring, Ventura was the active leader in grand slams with 18, hitting two this season with Dodgers. He hit two in one game on Sept. 4, 1995 and is the only player to hit a slam during each game of a doubleheader when he did it May 20, 1999 while playing for the New York Mets. Only Lou Gehrig (23) and Eddie Murray (19) have hit more.

 

Although Ventura had announced to his teammates after the final regular-season game that he was finished, he waited until his team was eliminated by the St. Louis Cardinals to make his decision public.

 

Ventura played in 102 games with the Dodgers this season and batted .243 with five home runs and 28 RBI. He made his fifth postseason appearance, going 0-for-3 while pinch hitting three times against the Cardinals. His final at-bat came in the eighth inning Sunday when he he was thrown out on a slow roller in front of home plate.

 

Ventura, a Southern California native, reportedly is open to the idea of returning to the game in some capacity in a few years, but for now will spend time with his family.

 

The Sox have made it a priority in recent years to bring former players back to the organization. Ozzie Guillen was named manager this season, while Harold Baines took over as his bench coach. The team also has hitting coach Greg Walker and third-base coach Joey Cora.

 

"He has everything that is good about a baseball player,'' said Walker, who was at the tail end of his Sox career when Ventura was starting out. "You want those guys to pass it on to the new guys. We need a guy like that. He would be great.''

 

The Sox are likely to have two open coaching positions for next season, but getting Ventura to fill one would be a long shot. First-base coach Rafael Santana is not expected to return next season and Baines said late in the season that his job as bench coach was not fulfilling.

 

While Ventura was an All-Star twice (1992 and 2002) and won six Gold Glove Awards, he might best be known nationally for his "brawl'' with Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan in 1993. After getting hit by a Ryan fastball, Ventura charged the mound only to find himself in a headlock while taking blows to the head from Ryan.

 

Ventura's top two Sox seasons came in 1991 and 1996. In '91 he batted .284 with 23 home runs and 100 RBI, while in '96 he hit .287 with a career-high 34 home runs and 105 RBI. He was voted by Sox fans onto the organization's 27-player "Team of the Century,'' which was announced Sept. 30, 2000.

 

Still, the best season of his career might have been the year after he left Chicago to sign as a free agent with the New York Mets. In '99, Ventura batted .301 with 32 home runs and a career-high 120 RBI and finished sixth in the National League MVP voting.

 

Ventura never won a World Series, reaching the Fall Classic once in 2000 with the Mets. He was 3-for-20 with a home run in that series against the New York Yankees. He was traded to the Yankees the next season, but they were defeated in the 2001 division series by the eventual champion Anaheim Angels.

 

Ventura was a late-season acquisition by the Dodgers in 2003 and was used as a role player this season, getting in most of his time at first base and as a pinch hitter.

 

"Baines, Walker and Robin, I would say would be in my top five White Sox guys,'' Reinsdorf said, keeping the rest of his top five private. "There is a common thread that runs through them. They are classy guys that work hard and there is no b.s. about them. They played for the love of the game and not for the love of money.''

 

That would be awesome if Robin came back as a member of the coaching staff. Ventura, Pudge, & Black Jack would also be excellent additions, though I don't think relations are too good with the latter 2. Well, one can dream, can't they?

[YASNY]

I'd sure like to see Black Jack get into some of these pitchers' heads. Garland is the first one that comes to mind that could use some of McDowell's philosophy.

[MinnesotaSoxFan]

I'd sure like to see Black Jack get into some of these pitchers' heads. Garland is the first one that comes to mind that could use some of McDowell's philosophy.

He can also bring some funk to them too with his band!

[Molto]

This is a column on Ventura from a writer at Chicago Sports Review and BaseballOutsider. Very good.

 

No More Mr. Nice Guy, Robin Ventura

Thursday, October 14, 2004

By Susan Kelly

 

Retirement is a fact of life for baseball players; a fact that usually hits them far sooner than it does the rest of us mere mortals. As each season winds down, we’re often greeted with the news that a player we’ve come to know and respect has decided to hang up his glove. So it came as no great shock when several players announced that they’d reached the end of the line with the close of the 2004 season. Still, one name in particular stood out for me. That of Robin Ventura.

 

As the Dodgers saw their post-season run stopped by the powerful Cardinals on Sunday night, Ventura made his decision final and officially announced his retirement from the game. He went out the same way he’d spent his 16-year career, quietly and without fanfare. I’d expect no less from the native Californian who had been one of baseballs’ most laid back characters. This was quintessential Ventura -- just packing up his belongings, wishing his teammates the best and walking away into the next phase of his life, whatever that might be. Hopefully it will continue to include baseball in some form, for the game would be greatly diminished by his absence.

 

Having put up a modest .267 career average, with 294 homers and 1,182 RBI’s, Ventura hardly ranked amongst the great sluggers, yet his contributions, though they lacked flash, were no less meaningful. He was a throwback to the glory days of baseball, when a flash of leather could be more effective than a long ball, and he had six Gold Gloves to back it up. He was also the consummate teammate, the kind of player any GM or manager loved to have in the clubhouse because he always knew how to keep things loose, even when things got the most heated. He didn’t stand out because of any ballpark heroics, but for his understated dedication to the game he loved.

 

Even at the bleakest moment of his career, when a devastating injury during Spring Training of 1997 resulted in a broken ankle and grim prospects for a return, Ventura responded as he always had, by putting his nose the grindstone and working hard. As a result, he was back in the Chicago White Sox lineup in just 18 weeks, stunning medical and baseball professionals who had predicted a minimum healing period of six months, and helping his team to a victory, not with a storybook homer but with a well hit double to drive in the winning run. Typical Robin Ventura. Never the star player, but beloved in every city where he played as teammates and fans embraced his old school ethic and solid play.

 

Nowhere more so than in New York, where he spent two years with the Mets and then two and a half with the Yankees. Though his time in Queens was brief, he left an indelible image in the minds and hearts of Met fans as part of the most thrilling seasons in recent franchise history. Few Met fans will ever forget Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS when Ventura stepped to the plate and nailed down the victory against the archrival Atlanta Braves with his “grand slam single.” A fitting moment for the man affectionately known as “Mr. Grand Slam,” whose 18 career slams tie him for third all-time with the legendary Willie McCovey. We’ll remember him for the lighter moments too -- especially his brilliant comic performance as teammate Mike Piazza during a Mets/Yankees rain-delay. Things can get awfully tense in New York, but Ventura helped us all to not take things quite so seriously. He gave us permission to laugh -- at him and at ourselves -- something just as important as game-winning hits or glowing defense.

 

If Robin Ventura knew one thing, it was that baseball is fleeting and you need to enjoy every second that you can. It’s something he was able to do with class and grace for 16 years. Until, at last, it was time to go. No fanfare, no final bows, just a quiet end for a quiet man. Those of us who were fortunate enough to watch him play will forever appreciate all he brought to the game, so we offer one final ovation for one of baseball’s true nice guys. Thanks, Robin -- for the way you played the game, for the way you made us feel, for the memories you gave us. You were appreciated and you’ll be missed.

[JoshPR]

Good Article Molto thanks for that.

 

Robin had a nice carrer, but i feel it was somewhat of a letdown, I tought he was going to be better in some ways. Not a knock on Robin just a fact. But still one of my all time favorites, I wore his number got a par of batting gloves he used in a card of his I got and even Bought a glove similar to his Black Louisville Slugger glove. Even tried his hitting stance.

 

Robin, Sox fans apreciate what you did for our team

[southsider2k5]

That just awesome. That is so dead on as to why Robin took on cult-hero status on the southside.

[WilliamTell]

I miss Robin from the game already. I don't see him being a coach though, I may be wrong though.