The Phillies are playing the Nationals tonight and Chris Wheeler is commenting on Jamie Moyer's pitching.
"He's developed a sinker," he says. He goes on to say how Moyer has developed the pitch to stay alive on the mound. At 45 years old, the more weapons you bring to the mound, the better.
That got me thinking about weapons. And a switch-hitter came to the plate.
A couple synapses fired, and I thought, "switch-pitcher."
Jill looked at me.
Oops. Talking out loud again.
But the idea stuck. And I went in search of the Ambidextrous Pitcher.
Found one.
Two, actually.
All the rest are in the 19th century.
Greg Harris threw one inning of dual-armed ball during an Expos/Reds game in 1995. There was a debate at the time as to whether or not this was a stunt.
Pat Venditte is the current one. He threw from both sides during a game just last month. Pitching for the Staten Island Yankees (Class A) with two outs in the ninth, he faced a switch hitter, who checked in from the right side of the plate.
Venditte decided to throw right-handed. His glove has two thumbs, making it simple to wear on either hand.
Batter Ralph Henriquez took one look at that, and switched sides of the plate.
Venditte changed his glove to his right hand, now pitching lefty.
Henriquez steps to the right side again.
This went on for a while.
The umpires eventually settled on ending the game of "Switchie" by declaring the batter needed to declare first.
This worked out better than the last time Venditte got stuck in a game of "Switchie." The last time it happened, in April 2007, he was pitching in NCAA Division I ball. And the umpires ruled then that the pitcher had to declare which arm he was throwing with before the first pitch to a batter, and no changing of arm permitted before the at-bat ends.
If Venditte makes it to the majors, MLB has some rules work to do. The Rulebook isn't specific on who declares first, pitcher or batter.
Comments