June 10, 201511 yr Pat Venditte, the first ever switch pitcher in the major leagues made his pitching debut for the Oakland A's on June 5th. Because of the uniqueness of this rare feat, a new rule had to be established and implemented called "The Pat Venditte Rule" The new rules regarding ambidextrous pitchers are as follows: • The pitcher must visually indicate to the umpire, batter and runner(s) which way he will begin pitching to the batter. Engaging the rubber with the glove on a particular hand is considered a definitive commitment to which arm he will throw with. The batter will then choose which side of the plate he will bat from. • The pitcher must throw one pitch to the batter before any "switch" by either player is allowed. • After one pitch is thrown, the pitcher and batter may each change positions one time per at-bat. For example, if the pitcher changes from right-handed to left-handed and the batter then changes batter's boxes, each player must remain that way for the duration of that at-bat (unless the offensive team substitutes a pinch hitter, and then each player may again "switch" one time). • Any switch (by either the pitcher or the batter) must be clearly indicated to the umpire. • There will be no warm-up pitches during the change of arms. • If an injury occurs the pitcher may change arms but not use that arm again during the remainder of the game. Interesting details of how he developed this talent etc... can be found here: Pat Venditte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Here's a funny video from 2009 of the farce that sparked the need for this new rule when Pat Venditte was facing a switch hitter.
June 10, 201511 yr Already a thread on this one: http://bluegrasspreps.com/major-league-baseball/switch-pitcher-vs-305585.html
June 11, 201511 yr Author Already a thread on this one: http://bluegrasspreps.com/major-league-baseball/switch-pitcher-vs-305585.html Oooops...My bad
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