Will Venable ’05 Hired To Manage Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox have hired Will Venable ’05 to be the team’s manager, making him the first Princeton graduate to manage a Major League Baseball team. Venable had been associate manager for the Texas Rangers for the past two years, including their 2023 championship season.

Texas President of Baseball Operations Chris Young ’02 saw firsthand what Venable contributed during his time with the Rangers.

“Will did a ton of things behind the scenes for [Rangers manager] Bruce Bochy to help take things off his plate, handling daily matchups, game planning, and strategic preparation,” Young told PAW. “He was instrumental in all of that.”

For his part, Venable said, "Bochy included me in everything he did. Seeing how he handled tough talks with players, and how he went about everything gave me the confidence I could do it."

The Princeton alums were teammates as players with the San Diego Padres from 2008-10, and Young called Venable “a special person.”

“There are so many attributes that go into being a successful leader, and Will embodies a lot of those,” said Young. “He’s empathetic, has just a great understanding of people and a winning spirit.”

Princeton head baseball coach Scott Bradley noted that Venable turned down other opportunities to interview for managing jobs over the years, and he believes the White Sox job presents a good opportunity despite the team’s 41-121 record last year.

“He’ll be on the ground floor building, not just walking into something ready-made,” said Bradley. “They will give him time to learn his craft and create a certain culture in the clubhouse. Will is an honest, up front guy who will deal with people really well.”

As for what made the White Sox the right fit, Venable said, "The city of Chicago is a place we've been before and just absolutely loved. They had a tough year, but I saw from the opposing dugout how they kept going out there and kept competing.

“That’s the type of leader I hope to be, and it made it easier to say yes,” he added. “It’s about the opportunity to build a foundation.”

Venable was a two-sport star at Princeton, becoming the second player ever to earn first team All-Ivy honors in both baseball and basketball. As a senior, he hit .385 with nine home runs, 33 RBI, and 35 runs scored. In basketball, Venable scored more than 1,000 points in his Princeton career and led the team during his junior year to the Ivy League championship.

Venable came to Princeton for basketball and did not join the baseball team until his sophomore year. But Venable’s father, former major leaguer Max Venable, told Bradley that his son would love to try to play.

“He hadn’t played since his freshman year of high school and came out for batting practice,” Bradley told PAW. “He swung and missed at the first five pitches, fouled five more pitches off, and then it was one line drive after another with the silkiest smooth swing you’d ever want to see. I called my assistant and said we just got our best player.”

During his nine-year major league career, spent mostly with the Padres, Venable had four consecutive seasons with 20 or more stolen bases. In his best season, 2013, Venable was a 20-20 player with 22 home runs and 22 steals to go along with a .268 batting average.

After retiring as a player, Venable spent three years on the Chicago Cubs coaching staff and then two seasons with the Boston Red Sox as bench coach while overseeing outfield instruction prior to his time with Young in Texas.

Young said he always admired Venable as a teammate, and he has full confidence in his ability to manage. 

“We understand the value of hard work and team baseball,” Young said, “and that stems from our experience at Princeton playing basketball as well as baseball.”

Venable echoed that sentiment and said playing both sports helped him tremendously. “Communicating with lots of different people and time management were skills I learned at Princeton,” he said. “Plus, there are things that happened in basketball on the court with the Princeton offense that we see in Major League Baseball in terms of how important things can be with spacing on the field. I have nothing but love for Princeton.”

As for what success will look like as a manager, Venable said, “Of course wins and losses matter, but we want to create an environment that puts our players in position to do their best. How our players develop goes beyond the record.”