Robin Ventura

Robin Mark Ventura (born July 14, 1967 in Santa Maria, California) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Chicago White Sox. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. An outstanding performer on both offense and defense, he became only the fifth third baseman – joining Ken Boyer, Ron Santo, Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt – to hit at least 250 home runs and win at least five Gold Glove Awards. He ranks 14th in major league history with 1887 games at third base, and his six career Gold Gloves place him behind only Robinson (16) and Schmidt (10) at his position. Baseball statistician and historian Bill James, in the 2001 revision of his Historical Baseball Abstract, chose Ventura as the greatest third baseman of the 1990s.

Move to New York

Most of the Mets? previous 114 third basemen were too old, too young, too inept or just too dull to merit attention, so even an average season by Ventura would have been outstanding, but he had his best year ever, hitting .301 with 120 RBIs and only nine errors; he also hit 32 homers. On May 20 he became the first player ever to hit a grand slam in each game of a doubleheader. He and fellow infielders Edgardo Alfonzo, Rey Ordóñez and John Olerud were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the ?Best Infield Ever?; Mets fans took to chanting ?MVP! MVP!? when he batted. Unfortunately (there?s usually an unfortunately with Ventura), he injured his left knee some time in August; when the problem finally came to light, just before the postseason, it had worsened to torn cartilage.

Related Topics:
May 20 - Edgardo Alfonzo - Rey Ordóñez - John Olerud - Sports Illustrated

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Normally players with such a serious injury would be a detriment, but not Ventura. Not only did he provide a game-winning, bases-loaded, two-out single in the eleventh inning of the Mets? last regular-season game, but every Mets fan remembers October 17, 1999, Game Five of the NLCS. The series-leading Atlanta Braves were up 3-2 in the fifteenth; it was cold and raining. A bases-loaded walk to Todd Pratt forced in the tying run and brought Ventura to the plate; the active grand slam leader first worked the count to his favor then smacked a home run into right-center field. Pratt, however, didn?t see the ball leave the park and ran back to first base, hoisting Ventura into the air and lugging him off the field before he could round the bases. The hit was officially scored an RBI single?a ?Grand Single? (sometimes referred to as the "Grand Slam Single"). The Mets lost the next game, but the message was clear: even when hurt, Ventura still could come through. He won his first NL Gold Glove that fall, bringing his total to six.

Related Topics:
October 17 - 1999 - NLCS - Atlanta Braves - Todd Pratt

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2000 was spotty for the good-natured third baseman, still recovering from off-season surgery on both his knee and right shoulder, which had been hurt during the playoffs. He only hit .232, but had 24 homers and 84 RBIs. He spent part of July on the disabled list with inflammation in his repaired shoulder, and was plagued with errors; but rebounded to hit .320 with three homers and 13 RBIs in the last two weeks of the season. When the Mets reached the World Series, he assisted in their only win by homering off the Yankees? Orlando Hernández. The next year was even spottier: .237, 21 homers, only 61 RBIs and insinuations that he was out of shape and too old to rebound. Still, Ventura did provide some dazzling moments, including a two-homer performance against Atlanta on Opening Day, his fifteenth grand slam, and a classic late hot streak (.288, 11 RBIs and three homers). The Mets? front office, though, was under fire over the team?s third-place finish and Ventura took the fall: on December 7, 2001, they traded him to the Yankees.

Related Topics:
2000 - World Series - Orlando Hernández - December 7 - 2001

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Under the watchful eye of manager Joe Torre, Ventura experienced a renaissance in 2002. A slight slump kept his average at .247, but his homers and RBIs totaled a respectable 27 (including another grand slam) and 93, the eighth time he topped 90 RBI. He played excellent defense at third, showing little signs of having slowed, and was selected to the All-Star team. The Yankees lost the Division Series that October, but in those four games he hit .286 with four RBIs. The next season began badly: he was platooned with Todd Zeile at third, though Torre claimed such an arrangement didn?t really exist. Unable to get into a hitting groove, Ventura struggled through the first few months of the year; by late July he was in a rut with only nine homers and 42 RBIs to his credit.

Related Topics:
Joe Torre - 2002 - Division Series - Todd Zeile

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