That pitch was not to back a batter off. That pitch was a felonious assault with a baseball hidden, which he got away with only because juries don’t have mind-reading abilities.
I’m inclined to believe that Ryan merely gave Ventura “noogies” (understanding the comically broad use of that term) only because he was certainly powerful enough to do serious damage to Ventura’s face and none was at all apparent. Going “easy” with those punches was probably Ryan’s way of making a show out of Ventura but simultaneously acknowledging Ventura had reason to be furious.
This was the only tape I could find that showed the actual contact points of Ryan’s “punches.” By getting a reverse angle from most other tapes that came from behind the plate area. This shot came from center field. If you’ll notice, like I mentioned, he was hitting him in the top of the head while holding him in a position that protected his face. And pictures after the actual contact showed no marks on Ventura’s face or any damage at all.
But, please, I would like you to tell me why Ryan would head hunt him? His only anything with Ryan is that he got a single off him earlier in the game. So what? That happened before in 27 years. Big deal. They scored two more runs on three hits during the remainer of the game. No one was buzzed. And Ventura was the only batter Ryan hit that year.
But to make matters comical, Craig Grebeck came off the bench to replace Ventura after he had been tossed. Grebeck took over as a pinch-runner at first base and Ryan immediately picked him off.
Ryan was going through arm troubles that season, his last. Ryan threw only 66 1/3 innings and faced 291 batters during that 1993 season. Well below his norms. He blew out the arm after two more wins and retired.
rwood