Michael Robert Venafro (born August 2, 1973) is an American formerMajor League Baseball left-handed relief pitcher. He played professionally for theTexas Rangers,Oakland Athletics,Tampa Bay Devil Rays,Los Angeles Dodgers and theColorado Rockies. He is currently ascout for theSan Diego Padres.^[1]

Mike Venafro
Relief pitcher
Born: (1973-08-02)August 2, 1973 (age 51) Takoma Park, Maryland, U.S.
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
April 24, 1999, for the Texas Rangers
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 2006, for the Colorado Rockies
MLB statistics
Win–loss record	15–10
Earned run average	4.09
Strikeout	131
Stats atBaseball Reference
Teams
Texas Rangers (1999–2001) Oakland Athletics (2002) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2003) Los Angeles Dodgers (2004) Colorado Rockies (2006)

Venafro was born inTakoma Park, Maryland and graduated from Paul VI High School in northernVirginia. He is an alumnus ofJames Madison University inHarrisonburg, Virginia.^[2]

Drafted by theTexas Rangers in the 29th round of the1995 Major League Baseball Draft,^[3] Venafro made his Major League Baseball debut with the Rangers on April 24,1999.

Venafro is often referenced in the best selling book titledMoneyball byMichael Lewis, which details the financial aspects of the Oakland Athletics during the time Venafro played for them. He is also referred to in the 2011 film of the same name during a scene whereBilly Beane (Brad Pitt) offers him to the San Francisco Giants to drive down interest inRicardo Rincón, whom Beane is attempting to acquire fromCleveland at the trading deadline.

Venafro played with three teams in postseason 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.

• Career statistics fromMLB, orESPN, orBaseball Reference, orFangraphs, orBaseball Reference (Minors), orRetrosheet , orBaseball Almanac 
• Mike Venafro at Baseball Almanac