On June 19, 2008, in Venditte's professional debut with the Staten Island Yankees, the fourth batter he faced, Ralph Henriquez of the Brooklyn Cyclones, was a switch-hitter. There were two outs in the bottom of the ninth. In the on-deck circle, Henriquez had warmed up as a left-hander. When he entered the batter's box, Venditte had his glove on his right hand, tipping that he was going to throw left. Then Henriquez stepped in right. Venditte switched his glove to his opposite hand. Henriquez switched sides, and so did Venditte. Then they switched sides again. "Boy, I have never seen anything like this," one of the broadcasters said. (An eight-minute video of the at-bat has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube.) Finally, the umpires ordered Henriquez to step in. He went right, and so did Venditte. An enraged Henriquez struck out on four pitches, ending the game and modern baseball's first switchy-switchy matchup by clubbing the dirt with his bat -- with his left hand.
Yep, there is a true ambidextrous pitcher on the verge of the major leagues. This would be only the third time in baseball history. And as my sister, a rabid A's fan says, "Why can't we just call this guy up already?"
Amen.
Very fun to watch what happens here. I hope that he makes it.
You can read the whole story by Chris Jones from ESPN the Magazine here.
14 May 2015
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