Friday, January 29, 2010

For Old Times' Sake

'Twas chatting with my buddy Wilson today about what a pussy A-Rod is when the subject turned to baseball fights. We naturally agreed that Nolan Ryan's pummeling of then rising-str Robin Ventura was the best ever.

To this day, I'll never understand what Ventura was thinking. Of course, thinking after being plunked by a 96-mph fastball is never really top of mind, so in that regard I understand his rush to the mound. But this was Nolan Ryan. Fireballer. A rancher. A Texas folk hero. A ferocious competitor. He was Crash Davis, Davy Crockett and John Wayne rolled into one and then some. You take your welt and go to first like a good little boy.

And every time I see this video, I can clearly hear a calm yet stern 46-year old Ryan saying to Ventura in his Texas drawl, "Boy, don't you come out here...get on down to first now, hear me?...Ah I reckon not...all right then..."

And wham! Ventura goes down in baseball history as the youngster who got his whoppin'. Good stuff.

Robin Ventura Charges Mound Against Nolan Ryan from CoasterNick3157 on Vimeo.

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