Back to the Tampa Bay Rays Newsfeed

Venters no stranger to long road to recovery

TAMPA, Fla. -- It was as though no one in the ballpark had any idea who he was or what he'd been through. There were no audible cheers when the public-address announcer said, "No. 26, Jonny Venters."

He was a baseball player of another generation. One whose name didn't disrupt the kids scurrying around the stands at George M. Steinbrenner Field or the lines of people waiting to get a cold beer on a 90-degree evening.

It was the first time in four years that Venters heard his name called on his quick jog to the mound.