Robin Ventura Had No Idea About His NCAA Record Hitting Streak Through 30 Games

Robin Ventura is one of the primary reasons I was ever an Oklahoma State fan. I’m not sure if I’ve ever talked about that in-depth on this site, but growing up watching him on WGN with the White Sox … those are some of my great early childhood memories.

Of course Ventura’s 58-game hitting streak is one of the all-time best (and most unbreakable) college records. It’s gotten a bit of attention recently because Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game streak began 75 years ago yesterday. Related: I had no idea DiMaggio hit safely in 72 of 73 games!

On this date in 1941, Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak began.

He actually hit in 72 of 73 games.

In that span: 120 hits, 6 strikeouts

— ESPN New York (@ESPNNewYork) May 15, 2016

Anyway, back to Robin.

He talked recently about how he had no idea he’d even hit safely in the first 30 games of the streak (which nobody knew would constitute barely over half of the entire thing).

“We were winning by a lot at Kansas and I was still in the game, and [during] my last at-bat, I remember having a 3-2 count and everybody is telling me to swing at it,” Ventura told MLB.com. “I didn’t understand it and I ended up getting a hit, but I didn’t go out of the zone or anything to get a hit. I couldn’t figure it out.

“Finally, when I was back in the dugout, guys were like, ‘That’s a 30-something-game hitting streak.’ And I was like ‘Oh, all right. Cool.’ From that point forward, it became harder because it’s in your mind: I have a hitting streak going. Now, I’m glad [Gary Ward] didn’t [take me out]” Ventura said. “But I wouldn’t have been upset if he did.

“It was great for the school, the program and all that. That was the biggest thing, and you are OK with it. It’s cool, but it was always more about our team. I just didn’t like it being a focus away from what we [were] all trying to accomplish.”

OSU lost to Stanford in the CWS finale that year.

Of course now it would be impossible to have a 10-game hitting streak in peewee ball without somebody Snapping or Tweetin about it. Just another reason Ventura’s (and DiMaggio’s) record will never be broken.

Also should be noted I randomly ran across this while working on this post. What a world we live in.