That may be the Cleveland Indians game I was thinking of! If memory serves, I think Alvin Dark moved Sam McDowell - a hard throwing lefty - to second to pitch around the Senators’ powerful right hand hitter Frank “The Washington Monument” “Hondo” “Capital Punishment” Howard.
I think this is the important part. Baseball tends to be so very, very conservative in its managerial decisions. When someone does well with a certain type of decision, everyone jumps on the bandwagon, and it’s almost impossible to get off the merry-go-round. Anytime someone does something even a little “deviant”, you want to applaud them for it.
I agree. As a Giants fan, I’d love to see Bochy & Righetti try a four-man rotation, with a long reliever (read: Zito) available to spot-start when there’s not a day off, or when Johnson needs an extra day’s rest.
It had to have been the late 70s or early 80s but Chuck Tanner did this with the Pirates when they were playing the Cubs at Wrigley. He moved the closer, Kent Tekulve into left field in order to get the lefty/righty advantage pitching. Sure enough the batter hit it to Tekulve (an ungainly man at best) who somehow made the catch.
memory was a little off…looks like the game was at Candlestick.
That lefthanded pull hitter was Ted Williams.
The earliest such substitution known to me occurred July 25, 1908, New York @ Detroit. NY manager Kid Elberfeld moved pitcher Jack Chesbro to first base for one batter. Instead of bringing in another pitcher, though, Chesbro switched positions with first baseman Hal Chase pitching to one batter, Claude Rossman. Chase got the out, and the pair switched back.
That’s bizarre, since Chase wasn’t a pitcher. It appears from Chase’s stat line that Rossman sacrificed, which is even more bizarre. Do you have any knowledge as to what New York’s motivation was for making such an unusual move?
I don’t know. Rossman was hitless in the game, which makes it even more odd. Rossman hit a run-scoring fly ball to left off Chase. (Sacrifice flies were not a separate stat at the time.)
Apparently Hal Chase (never known for his modesty) had done a little pitching in minor league and winter ball and had been agitating for a chance to pitch in the majors. According to a biography of Chase,
A most unusual move indeed.
This was the second major league game that I ever attended. See the boxscore here
The game, where McDowell played first, was later that season, against the same team.boxscore
While, I’m at it, I saw this game on TV. The only reason the game was in extra innings is because Dave Parker dropped a flyball during the ninth.
I’ll take Pitchers Named McDowell Playing Out of Position for $1000, Alex
I checked the game log and Parker’s drop was indeed, during the ninth…of a game played 23 years ago.
Funny, how I can remember crap like this, but I’m forgetting my kids’ names.
I fail to see why this was noteworthy.
Was Staub trying to stretch a single into a double? If so, that happens frequently.
Was it a typo and Staub got thrown at 1st? Ok that is would be slooooow.
Was Staub already on 1st base? OK, that would be slooooooooooooooowww.
When Staub was with the Expos, he was known as Le Grand Orange. He was a favorite of mine when I was a kid.
IME, standout pitchers in High School generally played outfield positions on their off pitching days. They are generally one of the better hitters on the High school teams. It is not unrealistic to think that a pitcher could play an outfield position with some profiency.
This. 
