There aren’t many sure things in baseball, but Robin Ventura with the bases loaded is close.
So when Ventura came up with the bases loaded in the fifth inning yesterday, Todd Zeile said he sat on the Mets’ bench hoping Kris Benson “didn’t fall into the pattern of destiny.”
But Benson did. Ventura connected on his 17th career grand slam, passing and joining an incredible list of names with his shot that just hit the screen attached to the right-field foul pole.
When the 37-year-old Ventura, now just a bench player for the Dodgers, rounded second he broke his usual stoicism for a rare on-field smile.
After he touched home, most of the Shea Stadium crowd of 33,582 were standing and cheering. Through another dreadful season, it was as if Ventura provided a flashback for Mets fans to the Grand Single – Ventura’s slam to win Game 4 of the 1999 NLCS over the Giants that was ruled a single after he failed to touch all the bases.
“It is nice,” Ventura said after the Dodgers’ 10-2 drubbing of the Mets. “Obviously, they aren’t playing well so it is going to be magnified a little bit. It is nice to be able to come back and get an ovation.”
Ventura’s slam moved him past legends Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth and the-not-as immortal Dave Kingman. Ventura is now tied with Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams for fourth on the all-time grand slam list.
“It is nice to be mentioned in the same category whatsoever with those guys,” Ventura said.
Ventura is no longer the $32 million MVP candidate he was five years ago. Now, he is a $1.2 million reserve, who doesn’t know if he will try to play next year. The homer was just his fourth of the season. He is hitting .222 in 117 at-bats.
While obviously not as dramatic as the Grand Single, there was some intrigue yesterday as initially the umpires ruled that the ball was in play. The famously slow Ventura hustled around first before the umpires started whirling their index fingers and right hands for a home run.
“I was hoping it would stay fair at first,” Ventura said. “It sounded like it hit the screen and I don’t run fast enough to actually slow down so I was making sure I got to second.”
Since it might have been Ventura’s last grand slam, it could have been the final time he repeats his old mantra about how he doesn’t do anything differently with the bases loaded.
“I wish there was something to it,” Ventura said.