Sunday, November 4, 2007

More Pitchers out of Position

I may have been wrong about pitchers spending most of their time out of position in the outfield.
My dad wrote in to tell me about Sam McDowell spending time at first base and second base, and plenty of other pitchers have moonlighted on the infield. Here are the guys since 1957.

At catcher:
  • Chris Short - June 29, 1961 - For the first game of a doubleheader against the Giants, Phillies manager Gene Mauch attempted to confuse San Francisco manager Alvin Dark about his lineup by loading it with pitchers. This led to the curious appearance of Don Ferrarese in CF, Jim Owens in RF, and Short at catcher. All three of the players were replaced before the first batter stepped to the plate. Another interesting fact about the game: neither starting pitcher recorded an out. You could argue Short doesn't belong on the list because he didn't actually don the tools of ignorance, but he still got in the box score.
At first base:
  • Mickey McDermott - August 2, 1957 - He hit a single in the top of the first inning of game one of the doubleheader before being replaced in the field in the bottom of the first. He also was 1-3 with a strikeout in six innings at first during game two of the doubleheader. McDermott was a capable hitter in his career, putting up a .252/.312/.349 line in 619 career at bats.
  • Billy O'Dell - June 6, 1965 (Game 2) - O'Dell entered the game in relief with a 6-1 lead and runners on first and second with two out in the seventh. He gave up two singles to make it a 6-3 game and putting runners on the corners before being moved to first base to make room for Bob Sadowski. Sadowski gave up another single, making it 6-4, and O'Dell came back to the mound for 2 1/3 innings, finishing the game and picking up a save.
  • Catfish Hunter - June 18, 1967 - Hunter recorded the first 26 outs before moving to first base while lefty Tony Pierce struck out Gates Brown with the bases loaded to end the game.
  • Mike Paul - June 7, 1968 - Paul entered in relief, throwing 2 2/3 innings before being moved to first to make way for Stan Williams. Williams gave up a single and Paul replaced him on the mound. An error and a triple later, Paul picked up the loss.
  • Dick Selma - June 28, 1970 - Selma moved to first in the bottom of the ninth while Woody Fryman struck out Jerry Davanon. He then moved back to the mound and threw another 1 1/3 innings, picking up the win.
  • Sam McDowell - September 2, 1970 - McDowell was shifted to first base while Dean Chance came in and gave up two runs in the sixth inning. He then returned and pitched two more innings to finish the game.
  • Steve Renko - September 22, 1972 - Renko entered the game in the bottom of the tenth inning, replacing shortstop Tim Foli at first base while Coco Laboy moved from third to short and Bob Bailey came in to play third. Renko didn't get a chance to bat, but fellow reliever Mike Marshall did in the top of the eleventh.
  • Andy Hassler - August 29, 1977 - In another case of lineup trickery, Hassler appeared in the lineup at first base while Jim Colburn "manned" right field. Al Cowens and John Mayberry soon replaced the pitchers.
  • Fernando Valenzuela - June 3, 1989 - In the 21st inning of a 5-4 loss to the Astros, Valenzuela came in to play first base while third baseman Joe Hamilton took the mound. Valenzuela was in the field for the 21st and 22nd inning, catching a foul popup and taking part in a 1-3 putout.
  • Chuck Crim - June 6, 1989 -In the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, Crim moved to first base while Tony Fossas came in to give up a single. Crim then moved back to the mound and retired the next two batters to end the game.
  • Todd Ritchie - October 7, 2001 - Ritchie was listed in the second spot in the lineup at first base but was pinch hit for by Craig Wilson in the top of the first inning.
At second base:
  • Milt Pappas - September 11, 1958 - Pappas was in the starting lineup, batting seventh and playing second base but was replaced by Billy Gardner to start the bottom of the first.
  • Sam McDowell - July 6, 1970 - McDowell moved to second base in the eighth inning with two outs. Dean Chance replaced him on the mound, intentionally walked the first batter to load the bases and got a 5-4 putout to end the inning. McDowell came back in to pitch the ninth but holds the distinction of being the most recent left-handed second baseman in baseball history. EDIT: Robert notes in the comments that Don Mattingly played second base more recently than Sam McDowell did, spending one-third of an inning there in the (in)famous Pine Tar game.
At third base:
  • Hal Brown - July 23, 1958 & September 12, 1958 - On July 23, Brown came in as a defensive substitution in the bottom of the ninth in a de facto line change as everyone but the first baseman and left fielder were replaced. On September 12, Brown was in the starting lineup but replaced by Brooks Robinson in the bottom of the first.
  • Dick Selma - April 16, 1970 & April 28, 1970 - On April 16, Dick Selma moved to third so Joe Hoerner could induce a popup to the catcher. Selma was then pinch hit for during the next inning. April 28 saw an exact repeat of the situation, but this time the popup ended the game.
  • Jim Rittwage - September 25, 1970 - In the fourth inning Rittwage was moved to third in favor of Rick Austin. Austin gave up a double and an intentional walk before getting out of the inning on a popup to short. Rittwage then went back to the mound for three more innings.
  • Bill Wilson - August 6, 1971 - Wilson moved to third so Joe Hoerner could strike out Willie Stargell. Wilson then came back to the mound for another 1 1/3 innings, ending the game.
  • Orel Hershiser - September 15, 1993 - Hershiser was in the starting lineup but was pinch-hit for in the top of the first inning.
  • Pedro Martinez - September 20, 1993 - Yes, that Pedro Martinez. His "appearance" at third base took the same form as Hershiser's five days earlier.
At shortstop:
  • None!
That's all the pitchers out of position since 1957 (hopefully). If I missed someone, as always, let me know.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don Mattingly played second base more recently than Sam McDowell:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA198307240.shtml

This was the conclusion of the "Pine Tar Game", in 1983.

Theron Schultz said...

Ah, very cool. Thanks!