The 1993, oft-replayed assault on 3B Robin Ventura by Rangers starter Nolan Ryan would be a neat thing to show over the Arlington jumbotron when Chicago opens the 2012 season at Texas on April 6, particularly as Ventura is now the skipper of the visiting team, while Ryan fronts the ownership group for the hosts. However, sounding a little sick-to-death of this ancient violent highlight, Rangers public address announcer Chuch Morgan tells ESPN Dallas’ Richard Durrett, “We may show it on the day it happened as part of the 40th anniversary moments, but that’s probably it.”
“I just thought this offseason that we didn’t need to be showing that anymore,” Morgan said. “I watched how St. Louis treated Stan the Man during the playoffs and that’s how we should treat Nolan as the face of the franchise. We’ll celebrate his no-hitters and other moments.”
“I also don’t think it’s right for us on our Opening Day to show a fight, and then that whole weekend we’re going to treat Robin Ventura with respect,” Morgan said. “He’s the manager of the White Sox. We don’t need to do anything like that.”
“We’ve got a team that just went to back-to-back World Series and we’ve got plenty of good moments to show,” Morgan said.
I hope Morgan has more luck finding footage of Chan Ho Park’s contract signing ceremony than I did.