Robin Ventura (1989 RC) $24

Oklahoma State Hall of Honor: https://youtu.be/-022rnzkDP4

Robin Mark Ventura (born in Santa Maria, CA on 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. While playing college baseball for the Cowboysat OSU, Ventura was a three-time All-American who authored 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. After the 2011 season, the White Sox hired him to be their manager, making him the 17th former White Sox player to manage the club. After being picked tenth in the 1988 Major League Baseball draft by the White Sox, Ventura spent much of 1989 at AA Birminghambefore joining the 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 RBIs 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. 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). 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 several times, causing a bench-clearing brawl. This brawl was voted the top baseball brawl of all time by ESPN’s SportsCenter. (https://youtu.be/R3niGu9d_pY) 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. 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. The next season, he won his fourth Gold Glove, reached new highs in fielding percentage, homers and RBIs, and set team records in career homers by a third baseman (142) and grand slams (9). When spring training began in 1997 the White Sox were picked by many to win their division. In a spring training game at Ed Smith Stadium, Ventura slid into home plate and caught his foot in the mud, suffering a broken and dislocated right ankle. The initial prognosis was that he would be lost for the season. However, Ventura returned on July 24, more than a week ahead of the most optimistic predictions. He collected the game-winning hit that night, and homered in his first at-bat the next evening. The White Sox did not make the playoffs, in part due to the “White Flag Trade”. In 1998, Ventura’s final season with the Sox, he won his fifth Gold Glove, but only hit .263. His homer and RBI totals were close to his career averages, but the Sox attempted repeatedly to trade him and declined to renew his contract, with owner Jerry Reinsdorf claiming that he was “deteriorating”.