Robin Ventura

Robin Mark Ventura (born July 14, 1967) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager.

Ventura played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

He was also the manager for the White Sox for five seasons.

Born to parents John and Darlene Ventura on July 14, 1967, in Santa Maria, California, Ventura is of Italian and Portuguese descent.

After attending Righetti High School in Orcutt, California, Ventura was a 3-time All-American at Oklahoma State University.

He spent some time at first base that year amid trade rumors, but ended the year with a career-high .295 average, and on September 4 hit two grand slams in one game, the eighth player in history to do so and the first since Frank Robinson in 1970.

He also collected his 500th hit that May and won his third straight Gold Glove, while becoming the first AL third baseman with three consecutive 90-RBI campaigns since Graig Nettles (1975–78).

He led the nation in runs (107), RBI (96) and total bases (204) in 69 games as a freshman in 1986.

In 1987, he had an NCAA-record 58-game hitting streak, breaking the previous record of 47; he also led Division I in RBIs two years in a row.

Ventura helped OSU reach the finals of the 1987 College World Series, although they lost the championship game to a Stanford University team that included future teammate Jack McDowell.

Ventura collected four hits – including a pair of doubles – in the final game and batted .364 for the series.

That summer, he played for the Hyannis Mets in the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL), hitting .370 and led the league in runs batted in with 37.

The White Sox selected Ventura with the tenth overall pick in the 1988 amateur draft from Oklahoma State University (OSU).

He is a six-time Rawlings Gold Glove winner, two-time MLB All-Star selection and a National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductee.

While playing college baseball for the Cowboys at OSU, Ventura was a three-time All-American who achieved a Division I-record 58-game hitting streak.

In 1988, he won the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award and played for the gold medal-winning Olympic baseball team.

In his MLB career, he hit 18 grand slams, ranking fifth all-time.

In 1988 he earned a spot on the gold medal-winning Olympic baseball team, batting .409 during the tournament.

He won both the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy for outstanding collegiate play, concluding his 3-year OSU career with a .428 batting average, a .792 slugging percentage, and 302 RBI.

After being picked tenth in the 1988 Major League Baseball draft by the White Sox, Ventura spent much of 1989 at AA Birmingham before joining the White Sox that September.

While in Birmingham, he earned a spot in the Southern League All-Star Game and was voted the league's top defensive third baseman.

He was named to the 1990 Topps All-Star Rookie Roster and earned the starting third base role with the White Sox the next spring.

While his 1990 rookie year was marred by an 0-for-41 slump and 25 errors, his 123 hits were the most by a White Sox rookie since Ozzie Guillén in 1985; he also led AL rookies with 150 games played.

The next year he won his first Gold Glove Award for fielding excellence, set a team record for RBI at third base, and led the AL in putouts.

In 1992, Ventura won another Gold Glove and earned a spot on the All-Star team.

In 1993, Ventura saw his batting average drop 20 points to .262, though both his slugging and on-base percentages rose slightly.

On August 4, 1993, during a game against the Texas Rangers, Ventura was hit by a pitch thrown by Nolan Ryan.

Ventura charged the mound, where Ryan, 20 years Ventura's senior, placed Ventura in a headlock and punched him six times, causing a bench-clearing brawl.

This brawl was voted the top baseball brawl of all time by ESPN's SportsCenter.

The White Sox won the AL West that year, which resulted in Ventura's only playoff trip while in Chicago.

They would lose in the ALCS to the Toronto Blue Jays.

When play resumed in 1995 following the 1994 strike, Ventura had ten errors in the first ten games.

In Game 5 of the 1999 National League Championship Series, Ventura hit the "Grand Slam Single" that won the game but did not actually become a home run because he was unable to complete the circuit around the base paths.

Later in his playing career, cartilage and arthritis issues in his ankle hampered his abilities in the field.

On January 19, 2002, Ventura was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2001.

His hitting streak remains the Division I record, though his mark was surpassed in 2003 by Damian Costantino of Division III Salve Regina University, who had a 60-game streak.

On July 4, 2006, Ventura was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame as a member of its inaugural class.

After the 2011 season, the White Sox hired Ventura to be their manager.

He managed the team from 2012 until 2016.

In January 2020, Ventura returned to Oklahoma State to complete his degree and serves as a student assistant coach for the baseball team.