I know what a switch hitter is. Are there switch pitchers? Has there ever been? If not, why not?
Thanks.
It’s hard enough to be an effective pitcher, let alone be effective with both arms. That said, there have been a few switch pitchers. I know there was at least one in the major leagues, and there is Billy Wagner–who while not an actual switch pitcher but he did switch throwing arms after breaking his right arm, and now throws harder with his left arm than he did with his right. Back to the switch pitcher, I don’t remember his name, and there might even have been more than one, but I remember some announcers talking about him during a game once or twice. Anyway, as proof that they do exist, I cite a draft log/blog at Baseball America:
Former Texas Rangers closer Greg Harris – who normally pitched right-handed – used to pitch batting practice left-handed routinely.
Harris later pitched for the Montreal Expos. On September 29th, 1995, Harris the first pitcher to pitch with both hands in the same game in a relief appearance against the Cincinnati Reds. He faced two batters left-handed and two batters right-handed. In the ninth inning, Harris walked one batter and got the other three batters to gound out.
More information can be found by Googling “Texas Rangers”, “switch-pitcher”. Only one article comes up – the source of the info above. It’s only accessible through Google’s cache.
I remember Harris when he was on the Sox. The announcers would often mention how he was capable of throwing with both hands, and I waited for him to do it in a game. He never did while with the Sox, though. It would have been cool to see. If he were effective with both hands (I think he was more effective right-handed, if I remember correctly), it could have been a great strategic advantage and saver of pitchers. It never happened that way, though; I think the Montreal example may have been more of a publicity kind of thing.
He did use a unique fielding glove: it was sort of reversible, if I recall correctly.
As an aside, a couple of similar things I think it’d be neat to see in major league baseball:
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A true knuckleballer who could also throw a 100 MPH fastball. (I say “true knuckleballer” because many pitchers will occasionally throw a knuckler, but it’s not very good or very often.) Hitters wouldn’t stand a chance.
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A pitcher who was also adept enough at fielding and hitting that he could stay in the game, say at third base, when removed as a pitcher (maybe to a lefty batter, let’s say), then switch back to pitcher when needed. Back and forth they could go. Now that I think about it, I guess you’d need two pitchers who were also good hitters/fielders. I assume this would be legal, right?
Can a pitcher throw with either hand in the middle of pitching against someone?
Also, if as a batter, you start your batting turn batting right, can you switch sides any time you want?
There are no rules against changing hands while pitching, so it would seem the pitcher could do it.
The batter is allowed to switch sides during an at bat, but it’s a strike if he does it when the pitcher is ready to pitch. As long as the pitcher isn’t ready to pitch, he can switch at any time.
The NY Mets once alternated pitchers – one LH and the other RH in an inning, moving the one not on the mound to the outfield. It’s not a common thing, though.
Correction: the batter is out if he switches when the pitcher is ready to pitch. However, he can switch any other time.
Thi is from memory, but I believe you can switch, unless there are two strikes against you.
I could have sworn MLB instituted a rule after Greg Harris pitched from both sides during a game (or was it during one at-bat), but I can’t find it in the rules. However, I did find this for NCAA baseball:
Not only is it legal, it’s happened:
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B07220CIN1986.htm
Mets at Cincinatti, July 22 1986. One of my favorite box scores ever.
Wow, it’s been years since I visited Retrosheet. Thanks for that link.
I never saw a picture of it, but Harris was reputed to have a six-fingered glove, with a web and thumb on each side, just in case the manager gave in some day.
Tim Wakefield comes close. Unlike most knucklers of the past, who threw nothing but, Wake comes in with a fastball fairly routinely. It’s pretty mediocre for MLB, maybe 85 mph or so, but it works fine when the batter is timing the knuckler.
That’s fairly common in amateur games, when the talent depth at pitcher is thin. Major leaguers might find it demeaning if done more often, though.
RealityChuck:
According to this site, Major League Baseball made a rule against switching during a single at-bat following Greg Harris’s doing so.
I have to disagree here. I believe Wakefield’s fastball tops out at around 70-75 MPH. It’s still a good change of pace, and it probably looks like 100 MPH to batters used to seeing a 50 MPH knuckler.
But wouldn’t it be cool to see a guy like Randy Johnson throw a 100 MPH heater on one pitch, and a 50 MPH knuckler on the next?
While this is legal, an American League team, or a team in most minor leagues, would instantly lose the right to use a designated hitter in that game; the DH rules prevents this sort of chicanery (otherwise you could exploit it pretty heavily.) The DH rule states that if a pitcher is moved to a fielding position, the DH is out of the game and the pitcher bats in his place.
I still think the best switchery I’ve ever seen was the day the Blue Jays had Cecil Fielder playing second base and shortstop. You had to be there.
nineiron, Wakefield can get it up to about 85. That’s still very slow by MLB standards, of course.
According to this site,
I don’t have a cite, but I’m quite sure that Wakefield doesn’t get it into the 80’s. The station I watch Sox games on (NESN) has a radar reading as he pitches, and it is routinely in the 70’s. The announcers often joke that it’s “a real blazer,” which it is, but only compared to his knuckler. Much of this is due to the fact that his knuckler is slower than most; I think Sparks throws his around 10 MPH faster than Wakefield, which probably explains the difference in success levels.
I was listening to the broadcast of the game Harris switch-pitched in. It was a late season, nothing game and he had the permission of both the manager and umpires. I am almost certain that he was told not to switch during an at-bat. If a switch-hitter came up, he would have to choose and then the batter could. The inning was a normal one with no runs, but it was an interesting experience. The announcers claimed it had never happened before in the majors.
In case anyone is interested, here’s the box score from the game in which Harris switch-pitched.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B09280MON1995.htm
God, I love Retrosheet.
This is correct. The article I cited from Google confirms this.