Career Highlights:
- Finished third in Baseball America’s Player of the Century poll for college baseball behind fellow Hall of Famers Bob Horner and Pete Incaviglia
- When inducted held college baseball’s hitting-streak record at 58 games while boasting a .428 career batting average
- Holds seven Oklahoma State offensive records, including the highest single season batting average at .469, which he set during his freshman year
- Was named Freshman of the Year by Baseball America after starting the season as the backup at third base
- His 96 RBI led the nation, and he also led the team with 28 doubles and 21 homers.
- Established a school record for runs in a season with 107, which also led the nation. Other honors bestowed on the freshman included All-Big Eight and all-tournament honors as well as being named the Most Valuable Player in the latter.
- Named Baseball America’s Player of the Year in 1987
- On the season batted .428 with 21 homers and 110 RBI while setting the 58-consecutive game streak
- Led the Cowboys into postseason play, where he was named to the Mideast All-Tournament team when he hit .417 and led the Cowboys to the College World Series
- The Cowboys set a school record with a 61-8 mark in 1988, and once again Ventura was named an All-American.
- Batted .391 at the plate that season with a career-high 26 homers and 96 RBI
- Received the Golden Spikes Award as the best player in college baseball for the 1988 season
- Was named Player of the Decade by Baseball America as well as the starting third baseman on the all-time team
- After the 1988 season, played in the Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox with the 10th pick in the first round
- In December of 2001, Baseball America named him The College Baseball Player of the Last 20 Years at the magazine’s 20th anniversary celebration in Boston.
- Ventura retired in 2004 after 16 seasons in the major leagues and spent five seasons as the manager of the Chicago White Sox.
Did you know:
Today, Ventura has returned to his alma mater as a student assistant while he finishes his degree. He joined the Cowboys coaching staff in January 2020, according to his OSU bio.
Ventura told NCAA.com that he had been returning to Stillwater for years to watch games, but he wanted to find a way to make a meaningful contribution and impact. The only available position on the OSU coaching staff was as a student assistant. He said it was a perfect fit.
“I’m really excited to do this,” Ventura said in his OSU bio. “For me, I could do quite a few things, but Oklahoma State and Cowboy Baseball is special. I wanted to do and be somewhere that meant a lot to me, not just the baseball part — I love baseball and coaching and being a part of that — but being at Oklahoma State adds an extra layer of specialness to me.
Having Ventura back on campus is special in many ways, OSU head coach Josh Holliday said in the bio.
“Robin Ventura will enhance the lives of our players — his experiences inside the game of baseball as a college player, major league player and major league manager provide rare and unique perspective to all of us inside the program,” Holliday said. “When Robin expressed interest in coming back and finishing his degree and joining our coaching staff, it was exciting. In addition to being an amazing player, Robin is an amazing person, teammate and leader who understands people and what a successful organization is all about. He brings people together and has a love for OSU that led him back to campus.
“What a statement about the value of finishing your degree and giving back to the school that helped launch your career. We have a very special coaching staff that will provide our players an amazing experience and a perspective on the game unlike any other in the country.”