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Oakland/Las Vegas A's (9x World Series Champions)

ScriptOhio

Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
A's call up ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte

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The Oakland Athletics have made the call for their bullpen, and they can go to either arm to bring in the major league's first ambidextrous pitcher since 1995.

The A's purchased the contract of Pat Venditte from Triple-A Nashville on Friday before Oakland played the Red Sox in Boston, positioning him to become the first player since 1995 to pitch in an MLB game with both his right and left hands.

Venditte, who uses a special glove designed to be worn on either hand, made one start for Nashville and was 1-0 with a 1.36 ERA in 17 appearances this season.

Venditte, who has a 2.37 ERA in 417 2/3 innings over eight minor league seasons, throws a fastball, slider and changeup from both sides and uses an ambidextrous glove with two thumb holes. He ranks fourth among Pacific Coast League pitchers, having allowed a .162 opponent batting average -- including just .092 against left-handed batters.

Entire article: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13018666/oakland-athletics-call-switch-pitcher-pat-venditte
 
It's Pat! Ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte makes MLB debut


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Over two scoreless innings, Venditte allowed one hit in a 4-2 loss to Boston. He was the first pitcher since Greg Harris in 1995 to use both hands in the same game. There were four documented cases in the 19th century of pitchers using both hands, most notably Tommy Mullane..
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Venditte entered the game in the seventh inning with his team trailing by two runs. Starting off against lefty hitting Brock Holt, Venditte pitched from the left side and Holt grounded out to first. Venditte switched to righty — he wears a glove with two thumbs that works both ways — and Hanley Ramirez hit a single to left. Venditte stayed right-handed against Mike Napoli, who hit into a double play.

See video of his 2 innings: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on...dextrous-pitcher-pat-venditte-makes-mlb-debut
 
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On this day in sports history....



And yeah, I know the A's were in Philadelphia back then.

In 1901 Mack became manager, treasurer and part owner of the new American League's Philadelphia Athletics. He managed the Athletics through the 1950 season, compiling a record of 3,582–3,814 (.484) when he retired at 87. Mack won nine pennants and appeared in eight World Series, winning five.
 
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They're one of those franchises that just seems to pull a run out of their ass with a roster of spare parts every few years. I'll always be curious what Billy Beane could do with a franchise that has more than a shoestring budget. Dude is just a really good baseball mind.
 
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