Athletics call up switch-pitcher Pat Venditte from Triple-A
For the first time since a single inning in 1995, and only the second time in the modern era of baseball, a major-league pitcher will throw with both arms. The Oakland Athletics reportedly recalled switch-pitching reliever Pat Venditte from Triple-A on Friday. His eventual major-league debut will be worth watching and come with much fanfare.
But this isn’t a Bill Veeck-style promotional stunt. Pitching with both the right and left arms may be a novelty, but for Venditte it’s no gimmick. He’s the real deal and worthy of the big-league promotion.
Venditte, 29, was drafted by the New York Yankees, twice. He was taken in the 45th round in 2007, didn’t sign instead opting to return to Creighton for his senior year, then taken again in the 20th round in 2008. He spent seven seasons in the Yankees’ minor-league system, then signed a minor-league deal with the Athletics this past offseason. With the Nashville Sounds, Venditte has appeared in 17 games, pitching 33 innings with a 1.36 ERA, 33 strikeouts to just 13 walks, and an opponent’s batting average of .167.
A switch-pitcher may be hard to imagine, or believe, but just take a look at Venditte in action. His unique sidearm delivery is almost identical from both sides, though perhaps he comes a little more over the top with his right arm:
As you can see in the video, another unique element of Venditte’s game is his personalized, six-finger glove. It allows him to wear the glove on both hands, switching on the mound whenever he pleases. In a terrific profile in the May issue of ESPN The Magazine, Chris Jones discovered how Venditte’s six-finger glove came to be:
“The man can remember the first time he held a six-fingered glove. He was 7 years old. His father had searched for one that could accommodate the skills of his special boy, and he discovered that Mizuno in Osaka, Japan, had made one.
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The father had called Osaka several times before he found someone who could understand or perhaps believe his request and its consequences: There is another one. He had his boy put each of his hands flat on a piece of paper and traced them, and then he faxed the pages to Mizuno. Several months later, he took a trip from the family home in Omaha, Nebraska, to San Francisco and picked up the glove after its journey across the ocean. It was in a black box. When the father came home, his boy was waiting for him at the airport. Now a 29-year-old man, he can remember perfectly the moment he opened the box and saw the glove that had been made just for him.”
Before Venditte enters a game, usually in relief, he warms up both arms equally. He throws a handful of pitches with the right, then switches to the left, then back again until he’s ready. He throws three pitches from both sides: fastball, changeup, slider. He says he stronger from the right side, with his fastball going about 5 miles an hour faster. But velocity isn’t his thing to begin with. His fastball doesn’t reach 90 MPH.
The uniqueness of his skills also required a new rule be put in place by the Professional Baseball Umpire Corporation. The rule limits the number of times a switch-pitcher, or hitter, can change sides during one at-bat. It also requires the pitcher to indicate to the umpire, batter, and runners which hand he is intending to pitch with. Once an at-bat has started he cannot switch arms until the batter is retired. It’s known as the Pat Venditte Rule.
The last major-league pitcher to throw with both arms was Greg A. Harris, a journeyman pitcher who did it for just a single inning with the Montreal Expos in 1995. Before that inning it hadn’t been done since 1894 and it hasn’t been done since. Whenever Venditte makes his debut and switches his glove from one hand to the other, it will mark another interesting chapter in baseball history.
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Ian Denomme is an editor and writer for Yahoo Sports. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter.
