William McKinley "Max" Venable (born June 6, 1957) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

. He played 12 seasons in

Major League Baseball 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) ...

(MLB) for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They p ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, and

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. Venable also played for the

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugu ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formatio ...

(NPB), and coached for the

SK Wyverns SSG Landers () are a South Korean professional baseball team. The team was originally established as the SK Wyverns but was renamed as the SSG Landers in 2021 after Shinsegae acquired the team from SK Group. They are a member of the KBO League. ...

of the

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are ...

Early years

Venable went to Cordova High School in

Rancho Cordova, California Rancho Cordova is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States which was incorporated in 2003. It is part of the Sacramento Metropolitan Area. The population was 64,776 at the 2010 census. In 2010 and 2019, Rancho Cordova was named ...

, where he was a multi-sport star. He excelled in all sports but, in high school, football was his best. He turned down football scholarships to sign with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

Career

Major League Baseball

He played for the

, and

, all of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, and the

of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

. He also played two seasons in Japan, and , for the

He coached for the Atlanta Braves in the minor leagues, along with the San Diego Padres. He is a hitting instructor in the Seattle Mariners farm system to date.

SK Wyverns

Max signed with Korean Baseball team

as a hitting coach in 2013.

Personal life

Max's older son, Will, is a former Major League

and he previously played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

for

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

. He joined his father as a member of the Portland Beavers in . Max's younger son Winston Venable was a standout safety for the

Boise State Broncos football The Boise State Broncos football program represents Boise State University in college football and competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos play their home gam ...

team for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
o
Pura Pelota
1957 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball managers African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball people in South Korea American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball coaches from Arizona Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from Arizona Baseball players from California Bellingham Dodgers players California Angels players Chiba Lotte Marines players Cincinnati Reds players Clinton Dodgers players Denver Zephyrs players Edmonton Trappers players Indianapolis Indians players Leones de Yucatán players Lodi Dodgers players Major League Baseball outfielders Minor league baseball managers Montreal Expos players Nashville Sounds players Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders People from Rancho Cordova, California Phoenix Giants players San Francisco Giants players Shreveport Captains players SSG Landers coaches Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{US-baseball-outfielder-1950s-stub