# Have circumstances ever required a non-pitcher to pitch in a MLB game? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691 "2003-06-13T22:33:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/41 "2003-06-14T17:21:08Z")
I’ve seen it happen a few times. We used to go to tons of Milwaukee Brewer games. They were a blast even though they rarely won. There were a couple of times when non-pitchers pitched. I even remember Paul Molitor striking a guy out in 3 pitches. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/42 "2003-06-14T17:46:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Slartibartfastt \* > \*\*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. \*\* I think it Jose Oquendo and he was playing for St. Louis at the time. I know in the National League there is nothing special about being a pitcher and there should be no need to warn the umps. It’s not like football where the position is indicated by the uniform number and you have to tell the referee if, say, the tackle is going to be an eligible receiver. What about the AL and any other league that uses a DH? ---
**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/43 "2003-06-15T01:13:10Z")
Lorenzo-scoreboard is still manual. But now there are little electric ones back of 1st & 3rd that even give pitch speed. My My -Brickhouse would have loved it. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/44 "2003-06-15T01:40:11Z")
I don’t think we’re helping out the OP here. Have you considered changing the sport to football? I bet there are several cases where a team ran out of quarterback of kickers. ---
**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/45 "2003-06-15T07:51:14Z")
Yes, once Unitas was hurt & the Colts recruited Tom Matte. (I recall he played QB at Ohio St., but not as a pro) He didn’t know any plays & had them written on tape on his wrist. This was obviously when QBs called plays. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/46 "2003-06-15T11:13:18Z")
I vaguely recall from my old _Strange But True Sports Stories_ book that a college football team suffered so many injuries in a single game that they had to lay a guy on a stretcher as a wide receiver in order to meet the eight men on the field requirement. A citation for that is beyond my capabilities, and that book proved to be more strange than true. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/47 "2003-06-15T12:22:45Z")
Somehat of a sidestep but wasn’t there a cricket match within the past decade where England were playing another team and found themselves a man down? As I recall, luckily there was a former England player in the beer tent (maybe commentary box) so they capped him on the spot. Google draws a blank, so I may be misremembering. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/48 "2003-06-15T14:28:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sofa King \* > **I vaguely recall from my old _Strange But True Sports Stories_ book that a college football team suffered so many injuries in a single game that they had to lay a guy on a stretcher as a wide receiver in order to meet the eight men on the field requirement** 😕 Eleven-men-on-the-field requirement? BTW, neither here nor there – a football having fewer than 11 men on the field is not a penalty. Having too few players on the line of scrimmage is, however, a penalty. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/49 "2003-06-15T14:29:56Z")
a football having fewer than 11 men … = a football **team** having fewer than 11 men … ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/50 "2003-06-15T15:32:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bnorton \* > \*\*I don’t think we’re helping out the OP here. Have you considered changing the sport to football? I bet there are several cases where a team ran out of quarterback of kickers. \*\* If a team is carrying two quarterbacks the third string quarterback is usually a player that is playing another position and therefore knows the plays and the system. If pressed into service almost all plays will be running plays or short passes so that he isn’t relied on too much to read defenses and other tasks requiring a lot of position experience. For instance, Walter Payton was the Bears third-string quarterback and actually started a game at QB for them. ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/51 "2003-06-19T05:38:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ZipperJJ \* > \*\*Correct me if I’m wrong (really, please) but I believe out of all 6 Ruth was the only one of them who actually was a regular pitcher. \*\* True so far as their major league careers go, but Musial was signed as a pitcher out of high school, and pitched for two or three years in the Cardinals’ minor league system. His limited success on the mound, combined with arm injuries, nearly led to his release before one of the managers in the organization who’d scouted Musial in high school took him on as a project and converted him to the outfield. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/52 "2003-06-19T06:48:09Z")
If we’re expanding to other sports, this is a pretty great example of the kind of thing you’re looking for: [http://www.southcoastal.com/history/silverfox.htm](http://www.southcoastal.com/history/silverfox.htm) You don’t see Bill Parcells jumping in to play quarterback in the Super Bowl, now do you? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/53 "2003-06-19T13:24:55Z")
Moving over to hockey, there is the case of the New York Rangers in the 1928 Stanley Cup. They didn’t have a backup goalie, and when their regular goaltender, Lorne Chabot, was hit in the eye, they had a big problem. There was a pro goalie in the stands, so the Rangers asked their opponents, the Montreal Maroons, if they could use him. The Maroons said, “no.” The Rangers were forced to use their coach, Lester Patrick, as goaltender. Patrick was 44 and had never played goaltender before. He stopped 18 of 19 shots and the Rangers won the game 2-1, signed a new goalie and won the Stanley Cup, something they have trouble doing even with trained goalies. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/54 "2003-06-19T14:24:13Z")
I remember a Tigers game way back that went 17 innings or something. I was off school and watched the whole thing. It started as an evening game. It finally ended at 1 am or something. One strange thing, a rule that rarely comes up required the Tigers to put a non-pitcher into the game. You see once you pull someone they are gone for the game. The Tig’s were a little free with replacing relief pitchers around inning 12 - 15. When their last reliever had pitched his usual 3 innings and was getting tired they wanted to pull him before he hurt himself but had no one left in the bull pen. They ended up pulling the third baseman and sending him to the mound. Can’t bring the guys name to mind but I believe he was hispanic and was a big name for the Tiger’s at third. Rodriegues maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/55 "2003-06-19T18:14:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by qts \* > **Somehat of a sidestep but wasn’t there a cricket match within the past decade where England were playing another team and found themselves a man down? As I recall, luckily there was a former England player in the beer tent (maybe commentary box) so they capped him on the spot.** I don’t know about that, but during the ICC Trophy in Toronto in 2001, the Irish national side was down to its last 11 players after injury. When another fielder was injured during a Super League match, they had to recruit a reporter to field as substitute! (Can you imagine the football equivalent: Two matches away from qualifying for the World Cup, you have to pick some guy out of the stands to play for you?) The story is in _Wisden 2002_–my copy’s at home, so I don’t have the reporter’s name right now. ---
**Author:** ![Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knighted_Vorpal_Sword)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691/56 "2003-06-19T18:34:15Z")
In 1983, Orioles’ utility infielder Len Sakata had to catch in the top of the 10th inning because the manager had already used up most or all of the players. The Blue Jays got 3 men to first base, and all were eager to run on Sakata. Instead, all 3 were picked off first by O’s closer Tippy Martinez. Sakata then hit a 3 run homer to win the game in the bottom of the 10th. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-circumstances-ever-required-a-non-pitcher-to-pitch-in-a-mlb-game/181691.md?page=2)