My pastor is out of town for a service we are having later in the month and has asked me to give the sermon…
:eek: YIKES!
I am going to give it a shot.
I would like to open with an analogy about a MLB team who for some reason has run out of pitchers and has to pull another player from another position to pitch… that would be me… 
But I only want to use an analogy that is true…
any help?
Thanks!
Not exactly what you’re looking for… but,
There was a story out of Japan a few years ago where the pilots died and a passanger flew the aircraft.
Of course, he is the one that went nuts and killed the pilots… so I don’t know if you want to use it.
Yeah, I remember (reading about) when my boyhood idol, Ted Williams, actually was brought in to pitch for the Red Sox sometime in the 1940s? Why they did it, I haven’t a clue. Can’t imagine they “ran out” of pitchers, but ya never know. I am sure we shall get enlightened shortly.
It’s been done in games that were way out of reach. Field players have pitched to save the pitching staff.
Looking for a cite.
It happens all the time. In blowouts, when the losing team decides they have no realistic change to win (down by 10 runs in a late inning, say), they will often send in a position player to pitch in order to save wear and tear on the pitchers.
Rick Cerone, a catcher, pitched in a couple of games for the Yankees in 1987.
I saw the game on July 19 on TV. Cerone kept shaking off the signals from the catcher as to what pitch to throw, laughing his ass off the whole time.
And Wade Boggs pitched when he was with the Devil Rays, which I guess was the last season or two of his career.
It’s happened a lot, though.
Yeah it happens quite a lot more often than you might think. The absolutely classic moment was when slugger Jose Canseco hit the mound in a Red Sox blowout.
Here’s an excerpt:
Classic.
Oh yeah, and that was May 26, 1993.
Mario Mendoza pitched 2 innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates during a blowout in 1977 and Larry Biittner pitched 1 and 1/3rd of an inning for the Chicago Cubs, also during a blowout in 1977.
IIRC, the managers announce to the umps prior to the game of any position player who may pitch during the game.
Biittner retired 4 batters, striking out 3 while giving up 5 hits, three of them homeruns.
During his outing, WGN featured the banner headline “Biittner is Piittching.”
I think Boggs struck out the side. Turned out he used to pitch, and still remembered how to throw a knuckleball.
Here’s an example that turned out even better for the player involved:
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=55455&ran=71609
Briefly, Jason Roach was a minor league infielder whose career was going nowhere. He was asked to pitch in a coupld of blowouts and was impressive enough to be converted to a pitcher. He just joined the Mets ML roster, something he’d never have achieved as a 3rd baseman.
Nope, no announcement prior to the game is necessary, or even possible in most cases. In addition to blowouts, position players are sometimes called upon to pitch in marathon extra-inning games. Jeff Hamilton, a Dodger infielder, took the loss in a 22-inning game on June 3, 1989. Jose Oquendo, a Cardinal utility player, pitched 4 innings of a marathon game before losing on May 14, 1988. Just three years ago catcher Brent Mayne snagged a relief win for Colorado after the last Rocky relief pitcher was injured. (They didn’t want to risk pitching a starter out of turn.) Mayne was the first position player to score a win since Yankee slugger Rocky Colavito in 1968. The Yankees inserted Colavito into a semi-blowout that they were trailing 5-0 against Detroit, and he got the win after they came back to win 6-5.
So rest assured, this is not at all an unbelievable premise.
Mark Grace pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks in a blowout loss just last year. While on the mound, he did a dead-on impression of the peculiar pitching style of one of the Diamondbacks relievers, Mike Fetters. Very funny. He pitched a full inning (the top of the 9th I think) and gave up only one hit. Unfortunately it was a home run.
Don’t you think that’s a little tasteless for the first response in GQ, given the context that newcrasher gave for background?
That homerun Mark Grace gave up was the batter’s very first major league homerun, too…also in 2001 Steve Finley pitched an inning for Arizona in another out-of-reach game…
Manny Alexander pitched an inning for Baltimore against Texas in another ‘Game that Wouldn’t End,’ and as I recall it, he was furious with then-manager Johnny Oates (I believe it was), and considered it an embarrassment…most non-pitchers seem to enjoy the oppo…
My mum tells me that Cookie Rojas has played in every position, including pitching…
The aforementioned Brent Mayne is the probably best example for your planned anecdote, since he really came through for the team.
Interestingly, another position player, CF Derek Bell (then of the Mets), also pitched for his team on the same day and performed miserably.
Read all about it here…
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/chronology/2000AUGUST.stm#day22
There was also a really interesting game in Cincinnati (in late summer '86, if I recall correctly) where the Mets and Reds got into a ferocious bench-clearing fight. Because so many players got ejected late in the game, the Mets had to put pitcher Jesse Orosco in the outfield. He and another pitcher- I forget who- actually would switch places between the outfield and the mound depending on who was at the plate for the Reds. Orosco would run in from the outfield to face righties and the other guy would face the lefties. It went on for at least two innings, with the two pitchers running back and forth. In one of his turns in RF, Jesse caught a line drive.
Wasnt it just a couple of years ago where one player played every postion for a team, including pitching, in one game. I have no idea who or for what team, I just remember it being in the news.
The aforementioned Brent Mayne is the probably best example for your planned anecdote, since he really came through for the team.
Interestingly, another position player, CF Derek Bell (then of the Mets), also pitched for his team on the same day and performed miserably.
Read all about it here…
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/chronology/2000AUGUST.stm#day22
There was also a really interesting game in Cincinnati (in late summer '86, if I recall correctly) where the Mets and Reds got into a ferocious bench-clearing fight. Because so many players got ejected late in the game, the Mets had to put pitcher Jesse Orosco in the outfield. He and another pitcher- I forget who- actually would switch places between the outfield and the mound depending on who was at the plate for the Reds. Orosco would run in from the outfield to face righties and the other guy would face the lefties. It went on for at least two innings, with the two pitchers running back and forth. In one of his turns in RF, Jesse caught a line drive.
I remember Expos third baseman Tim Wallach picthing a few innings in the mid to late 1980s during a blow out. He was regarded as the team’s best non-pitcher pitcher.
Wallach was an awesome fielder, had a great arm, and made lots of spectacular throws across the diamond. I guess it’s not that much of a stretch for a third baseman to pitch.
Here’s the Box Score (and play by play, if you’re interested) of that Orosco P/RF/P/RF game.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B07220CIN1986.htm