Robin Ventura to Stay on Cowboy Baseball Staff
(Oklahoma State Athletics Media Relations contributed to this article)
STILLWATER – Former Oklahoma State great and long-time MLB manager, Robin Ventura, is staying on the Cowboy baseball staff. It was announced on Thursday morning that Ventura will be the volunteer assistant coach for the 2023 season.
Ventura joined the staff ahead of the 2020 season as a student assistant, a position he held until the spring of 2022 when he graduated with his degree. The position was previously held by head coach Josh Holliday’s brother, MLB All-Star and World Series champion, Matt Holliday.
"I'm really happy to be back at OSU this year," Ventura said in the release from the program. "The school and OSU Baseball mean a lot to me, and I feel fortunate and appreciative to still be a part of it. This place and this program are special, and I look forward to working with these players as well as Josh (Holliday) and the staff."
Ventura is one of the greatest college baseball players of all time. He earned All-America honors three times during his stay in Stillwater from 1986-88, before spending 16 years in the Majors. During his three seasons with the Pokes, Ventura hit an incredible .428 and still holds three program records, which starts with the batting average and includes hits (329) and runs (300). He’s also second in several categories, including total bases (608), RBIs (302), doubles (71) and slugging percentage (.792).
"When it comes to life experiences and baseball knowledge, very few can offer the perspective to our players that Robin can. He has walked the path our players seek to follow and has wisdom and experience that is rare in this game. He is one of a kind."
Ventura was inducted into the inaugural class of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006, eight years after he was inducted into the Cowboy Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.
“In 1988, Ventura was the 10th overall pick by the Chicago White Sox in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. He debuted in the big leagues in 1989 and spent 10 seasons with the White Sox, winning five Gold Gloves and earning a spot on the American League All-Star team in 1992.
Over his final six MLB seasons, Ventura played for the New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, and he was named an All-Star with the Yankees in 2002.
Ending in 2004, Ventura's big league career spanned 2,079 games, and he posted a .267 batting average to go along with 294 homers, 1,182 RBIs and 338 doubles. He hit 18 grand slams during his career, which is the fifth most in MLB history.
In 2011, Ventura was named manager of the Chicago White Sox, and he guided the club to 375 wins from 2012-2016. In his first season at the helm, he led the White Sox to a second-place finish in the American League Central, where they finished just three games behind division champion Detroit, and was a finalist for American League Manager of the Year honors.”