Mike Vento played briefly in the majors with the 2005 New York Yankees and the 2006 Washington Nationals. A rightfielder, his batting average in 11 games was .250.

Mike was born in Albuquerque, NM and went to New Mexico Junior College. He was drafted in the 40th round in 1997 by the Yankees, and played in their minor league system from 1998-2005 as an outfielder. He hit over .300 several times - in 1998 in Single A ball, in 2001 in Single A ball, and in 2003 in both Double A and Triple A ball.

Vento had moderate power, slugging over .500 only once in the minors with the Yankees organization (in Single A in 2001 when he hit 20 homers). In 2005 in the International League, he was second in the league in doubles with 37 and made the league all-star team. His top base-stealing total in the minors was 13, which he did twice.

He came up for 2 games with the Yankees in September 2005, then became a free agent and signed with the Nationals. He spent most of 2006 with the New Orleans Zephyrs in the Pacific Coast League, where he posted stats of .341/.396/.502 in 62 games. In the majors with the Nationals, he had 5 hits in 18 at-bats, and also drew 4 walks, for an OBP over .400.

(excerpted from Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)