Today in History!

In 1993, Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan demonstrated to Chicago White Sox third baseman Robin Ventura that being 20 years older is not necessarily a handicap in a fight. After being hit in the ribs by a Ryan pitch, Ventura charged the mound and promptly attempted to damage Ryan's throwing hand by striking it six times with his face after securely wedging his head under Ryan's arm to make the blows more devastating. For this, Ventura and his manager were ejected, he was suspended for two games and he was booed every time he played in Arlington for the rest of his career, which lasted until 2004.

In 1999, his first year of eligibility, Nolan Ryan went into the Baseball Hall of Fame with 98.8 percent of the vote, six votes shy of a unanimous decision, behind only Tom Seaver and ahead of Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Bench, etc.

In 2010, his first year of eligibility, Robin Ventura received 1.3 percent of the vote and will no longer be listed as a candidate. He is also rumored to have tugged on Superman's cape, spit into the wind, pulled the mask off the Lone Ranger and messed around with both Jim and Slim.

In fairness to Ventura, during his career and afterwards he's been involved in significant charity work and I know I'd rather not be judged for a lot of my actions when I was 26. I was just lucky enough to not have my picture taken doing it, but on the other hand, it would have taken me a lot longer to run the sixty feet, six inches to the mound and I would have had that much more time to think over what I was doing.

ETA: And now Mark Cuban knows how Ventura felt.