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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Venable Triples in Major League Debut Friday Night
August 29, 2008 | Baseball
Former Princeton two-sport star Will Venable made his Major League debut on Friday as he patrolled centerfield and batted sixth for the San Diego Padres in their game against Colorado. Venable went 1 for 4 on the night, with a triple in his first big league at-bat. He then scored on a wild pitch. Venable graduated from Princeton in 2005 and has spent four seasons in the Padres' farm system.
The outfielder batted .292 in 120 games at AAA Portland this season where he was finalist for the Pacific Coast League's Rookie of the Year Award. Venable has 129 hits, 26 doubles, 14 home runs and 58 RBIs in 442 at-bats. He spent the 2007 season at AA San Antonio. He was chosen by San Diego in the seventh-round of the 2005 draft.The San Rafael, Calif., native played three baseball seasons at Princeton and graduated with a .333 career average to rank 12th in program history in the category. Venable was a member of two Ivy League Championship baseball squads and was the first-team All-Ivy centerfielder as a senior. Venable was also a first-team All-Ivy point guard in basketball and became the 26th Tiger to record 1,000 points, achieving 1,010 for his career.
Venable became the 25th Princetonian to appear in a Major League Baseball game and the first position player to appear since John Easton appeared in three games for the Phillies in 1959. Four Tigers have played in the Majors since, but all have been pitchers. Venable will join former Princeton baseball/basketball star Chris Young on the Padres roster.
Venable is currently one of nine former Tigers playing professional baseball. Young and Venable are in the Majors. Tim Lahey and Ross Ohlendorf are currently at the AAA level, although Ohlendorf did pitch in the Majors this season. Erik Stiller and B.J. Szymanski are at the AA level, while Christian Staehely is in A ball and Spencer Lucian and Steven Miller are playing rookie ball.
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