Ryan v. Ventura

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Can't believe it's been 15 years already.

Bill Simmons writes a great piece about it on ESPN Page 2:

Why is the Nolan Ryan/Robin Ventura photo so available? It cracked me up at last year's National Sports Collector Convention, then it cracked me up again at this year's convention in Baltimore: That's right, it's the funniest signed photo in sports, the one of Nolan Ryan beating the crap out of Robin Ventura. It's funny to look at. It's funny to think of Ryan's gleeful face every time he signs it. And it's really funny to think of Ventura's shoulders sinking every time he sees it. You probably haven't thought about that fight in a while. Ryan was 46 years old at the time. He threw at Ventura, who took exception and charged the mound, but as he was arriving, I think he remembered, "Crap, this guy's 46, I'm gonna look bad." But Ryan was ready to throw down. He tossed Ventura in the headlock, punched him in the top of the head three times, then landed one Tyson-like uppercut before everyone jumped in. It's the definitive "That guy got his butt kicked" baseball fight. Ryan being 46 pushed it to another level. The autographed photo slays me. I thought about buying a framed one in Baltimore until I remembered that those things are always cheaper online. So I surfed the Web that night and � Good Lord! Amazon is selling it. Walmart is selling it. Steiner Sports has it. So does the MLB shop. And eBay. And dozens of other retailers. Do a Google shopping search for "Nolan Ryan Robin Ventura autographed photo" and a whopping 14 pages of results come up. To put that in perspective, "Nolan Ryan autographed baseball" yields 19 pages of results (only 35 percent more) and "Nolan Ryan autographed no-hitter photo" yields just eight pages. You know what that tells me? That tells me Nolan Ryan can't sign this thing enough. My theory: I think he goes out of his way to sign them. I think he keeps a box of them in his car just in case anyone asks. I wouldn't rule out him throwing a "Ryan Beats the Crap Out of Ventura" autographed photo giveaway day when he takes over the Rangers. And eventually, I think Robin Ventura is going to snap, fly to Texas, show up at a Rangers game with his fists balled and say "All right, old man, you want a piece of me???" It's going to be like a scene from a bad '80s sports movie -- the downtrodden loser getting his revenge in the end -- but it's going to happen in our lifetimes. Robin Ventura and Nolan Ryan will fight again. You wait.

[Centerfield]

The picture makes it looks much worse than it was. Ryan got him in a headlock, but failed to land anything hard on him. You wouldn't be able to walk away after taking 3 solid punches from a guy who throws 100 mph...much less walk away without a scratch. If that's the hardest Nolan Ryan can hit, then he's a wuss too.

Still, it's hard to figure out what Robin's strategy was there. Seldom do you see a guy charge the mound and make no attempt to throw a punch. It seemed like his intent was to go out there and shake dandruff into Ryan's chest. Weird.

It serves him right though for violating the explicit rules of Mound Charging/Bar Fighting/Road Rage. You make a big demonstration of how angry you are and express your intent to kick your opponent's ass. Only when you are sufficiently surrounded by other people that reaching him is an impossibility, do you make any serious effort to reach your opponent.

[Zvon]

Bill Simmons wrote: My theory: I think he goes out of his way to sign them. I think he keeps a box of them in his car just in case anyone asks. I wouldn't rule out him throwing a "Ryan Beats the Crap Out of Ventura" autographed photo giveaway day when he takes over the Rangers. And eventually, I think Robin Ventura is going to snap, fly to Texas, show up at a Rangers game with his fists balled and say "All right, old man, you want a piece of me???" It's going to be like a scene from a bad '80s sports movie -- the downtrodden loser getting his revenge in the end -- but it's going to happen in our lifetimes. Robin Ventura and Nolan Ryan will fight again. You wait.

lmao.
Classic.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Centerfield wrote: The picture makes it looks much worse than it was. Ryan got him in a headlock, but failed to land anything hard on him. You wouldn't be able to walk away after taking 3 solid punches from a guy who throws 100 mph...much less walk away without a scratch. If that's the hardest Nolan Ryan can hit, then he's a wuss too.

Rabbit punches, all; the headlock was the most vicious part, really. It's like putting someone in a medieval torture rack so you can flick them in the nose.

Still, it's hard to figure out what Robin's strategy was there. Seldom do you see a guy charge the mound and make no attempt to throw a punch. It seemed like his intent was to go out there and shake dandruff into Ryan's chest. Weird. It serves him right though for violating the explicit rules of Mound Charging/Bar Fighting/Road Rage. You make a big demonstration of how angry you are and express your intent to kick your opponent's ass. Only when you are sufficiently surrounded by other people that reaching him is an impossibility, do you make any serious effort to reach your opponent.

Whatever his faults as a potential major-league manager, I have a feeling Backman's charges will be better prepared for this kind of stuff than most.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm going to agree with Simmons. Halfway there, he realized he was charging a senior and a beloved one. It was lose/lose, and all the adrenaline fell away.

[Willets Point]

I dunno, it looks like Ryan is recoiling and plugging away at the top of Ventura's cranium to me. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=aa1_1280296883&p=1

[Zvon]

He got one nice one in after the noogies on his skull cap.
Love watching that clip.
Ventura does look like he thought better of it and suddenly wanted to stop and talk things over but Ryan went all Manson on him :"YOUR IN MY CIRCLE! YOU COME INTO MY CIRCLE I'M GONNA FUCK YOU UP!"

[Zvon]

nevermind