Today marks the 19th anniversary of one of the most memorable on-field fights in recent baseball history.
On August 4, 1993, 46-year-old strikeout king Nolan Ryan hit 26-year-old Robin Ventura in the arm with an inside fastball. Ventura stepped away from the plate for a moment, seemingly on his way to first base, before throwing his bat down and charging the mound. He then promptly got his butt whooped by the 20-year-his-senior Texan.
Or did he? Recently, an enterprising White Sox fan compiled a Youtube video that argues in Ventura's favor.
Judging by the "Likes" and "Dislikes" on the Youtube page itself, it's pretty clear what most viewers (or maybe just those from Texas who were linked to the video) think. What say you?
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Besides all baseball fights are similar in that they never get drawn out very long. They are almost always broken up fairly quickly.
Robin fighting back from his ankle injury is all the "he's not a quitter/he's a winner" stuff I need.
That's what was so funny about it, old guy Nolan doesn't try to run or dodge, he calmly steps down off the mound, bulldogs Ventura like some kind of frisky calf and proceeds to land a flurry of uppercuts on the helpless Robin. As I recall, and you can't see it well here, Ryan landed those punches to the top of Ventura's head, not his chin, hence the added insult of being on the receiving end of the Noogie Express. The cavalry shows up, pushes the combatants across the infield and Ventura gets loose enough to wrap his arm around Ryan's collarbone. Only in Chicago could that be called a victory.
One more reason to justify my decades-long dislike of White Sox fans. And where was the Hawk Harrelson disclaimer/warning? Granted, a White Sox homer put the video together, so no excuse for my not having seen that one coming.