"Phil (Rizzuto) and I had to bring our fathers with us to sign because we were both underage. We both received thousand-dollar bonuses. Five-hundred upon signing and the other five-hundred if we were still with the team on July 1, the last cutdown date. My father cried when he got the check for five-hundred dollars. He had never seen that much money in his life. When he was able to get work, he earned twelve to fourteen-dollars a week." (Vince Ventura)

Vincent Ventura (b. April 18, 1917 in Manhattan, NYC, NY – d. September 11, 2001 in Lake Worth, FL) was a professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators for 18 games during the 1945 season, hitting .207 in 58 at-bats.

In total, Vince was in professional baseball for seven seasons from 1937 through 1945. He pitched five seasons in the minor leagues with a 30-21 record from 1937 to 1942. His best season came in 1939 with a 10-4 record and a 3.31 ERA for the Amsterdam Rugmakers of the class C Middle Atlantic League.

Vince also was used at the third base spot during the 1940 year and hit at a .310 clip in 124 games. He also saw action in the outfield in 1942 and '45 with the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association, hitting .311 in 312 at-bats for the Lookouts in '45.

Ventura served in the United States Army Air Force for two seasons (1943-1944) during World War II.

(excerpted from Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)