Switch-hit meets Switch-pitch
Christopher Massey picked this up in his comment on the ‘Switch-hitting cricketers’ post and now MLB.com are running a story about it. The Yankees’ minor league pitcher Pat Venditte can hurl the ball with either arm which is a neat trick in itself, but when a switch-hitter comes to bat everything just gets silly:
‘I’m hitting left-handed’
‘Well then I’m pitching left-handed’
‘If you’re pitching left-handed then I’m going to hit right-handed’
‘I’ll pitch from the right side then’
‘Okay, I’ll hit from the left’
Repeat the above until the umpire gets fed up and both managers are called on to the field to sort it out.
As with the Kevin Pieterson switch-hit storm, the incident has had the officials consulting the rule book to try and work out how to deal with the situation in the future. Justin Klemm, the executive director of the Professional Baseball Umpire Corporation, is quoted in the MLB.com article stating that they are working ”through different scenarios in order to establish rules that are fair and won’t make a travesty of the game”. Sounds familiar to the approach the MCC took, doesn’t it? As I’ve written countless times before (and will do again), baseball and cricket share a lot more common ground than some people think.
I wonder if Scott Styris will try to bowl left-arm medium pace today if Kevin Pieterson tries his switch-hitting antics? Somehow, I think not.
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There is a great story about this in the book I reviewed recently:
http://www.baseballgb.co.uk/?p=456
As the author, David Nemec, describes, there was a Western Association game in 1928 between Muskogee and Topeka in which switch-pitcher Paul Richards faced switch-hitter Charlie “Swamp Baby” Wilson in the ninth inning. The inevitable switching of sides occurred.
Richards later recalled the incidwent as follows:
“Finally I threw my glove down on the ground, faced him square with both feet on the rubber, put my hands behind my back and let him choose his own poison.”
That should of course be “incident” instead of “incidwent”.
Charlie “Swamp Baby” Wilson was my great-uncle his older brother George Wilson was my grandaddy who was also a great athlete. Charlie Wilson was a 4 sport lettermen at PC in Clinton SC. They grew up in the Thornwell Orphanage.
Wow. Excellent to hear from you then.
Have the Wilson sporting genes made there way down to you?