Robin Ventura
Six-time Rawlings Gold Glove winner and two-time MLB All-Star who played for the White Sox from 1989 to 1998 and managed them for five seasons.
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. 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.
Quick Facts
- Position
- Third baseman; Manager
- Bats
- Left
- Throws
- Right
- Born
- 14 July 1967
- Birthplace
- Santa Maria, California, U.S.
- Debut league
- MLB
- Debut date
- September 12
- Debut year
- 1989
Facts from the source article.
Background
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 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.
Did You Know?
- Ventura won his first Gold Glove Award in 1991 and another in 1992.
- He was selected to the All-Star Game in 1992.
- Ventura hit two grand slams in one game on September 4, 1995, the eighth player in history to do so.
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