Vincent Ventura (April 18, 1917 – September 11, 2001) was an American

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left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

. He played in

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(MLB) for the Washington Senators for 18 games during the 1945 season, the last year of the

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manpower shortage. Born in

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, Ventura threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . His pro career began in 1937 and included two seasons in the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

' farm system before Washington acquired his contract. He spent 1941 and 1942 with the Class A1

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

, then served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during both 1943 and 1944 before his discharge. He made his

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

debut on May 8, 1945, in a

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role against the

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, singling off

Nels Potter Nelson Thomas Potter (August 23, 1911 – September 30, 1990) was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher who appeared in 349 games in Major League Baseball over a dozen seasons between 1936 and 1949, most notably as a m ...

in a 7–1 Washington defeat."St. Louis Browns 7, Washington Senators 1"

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(8 May 1945) He appeared in 17 more games through June 15, starting 12 games in left field, before returning to Chattanooga. With Washington, Venture batted .207 in 58

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s, with four

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and two RBI. All of his 12

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were singles. He left pro baseball after the 1945 campaign.

References

External links

1917 births 2001 deaths Akron Yankees players Amsterdam Rugmakers players Atlanta Crackers players Chattanooga Lookouts players Major League Baseball left fielders Oswego Netherlands players Snow Hill Billies players Baseball players from New York City United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Washington Senators (1901–1960) players {{US-baseball-outfielder-1910s-stub