Mike Venafro

Mike Venafro
Relief pitcher
Born: August 2, 1973 (1973-08-02) Takoma Park, Maryland
Batted: Left	Threw: Left
MLB debut
April 24, 1999 for the Texas Rangers
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 2006 for the Colorado Rockies
Career statistics
Win-loss record	15-10
Earned run average	4.09
Strikeouts	131
Teams
Texas Rangers (1999-2001) Oakland Athletics (2002) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2003) Los Angeles Dodgers (2004) Colorado Rockies (2006)

Michael Robert Venafro (born August 2, 1973 in Takoma Park, Maryland) is a retired Major League Baseball left-handed relief pitcher.

Venafro is an alumnus of James Madison University. He is also an alumnus of Paul VI High School in northern Virginia.

Drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 29th round of the 1995 Major League Baseball Draft, Venafro made his Major League Baseball debut with the Rangers on April 24, 1999.

In 2006 Venafro made his first appearance with the Colorado Rockies and earned his first win with the club.

Venafro is often referenced in the best selling book titled Moneyball by Michael Lewis, which details the financial aspects of the Oakland Athletics during the time Venafro played for them.

Venafro played with three teams in post season major league baseball including; the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, and the Texas Rangers. In total Venafro has played with 14 different baseball organizations.

Venafro has 13 years of professional baseball experience; 7 of which are in the major leagues. His major league career ERA is 4.09. He held big league lefthanded batters to a .240/.318/.310 line in parts of seven seasons.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube