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Ambidextrous baseball players



Yu Darvish - RHP, Texas Rangers

Darvish is ambidextrous | Texas Rangers Blog
When Texas Rangers righthander Yu Darvish took the mound at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for a photo session on Friday night, he showed his ambidextrous side.
Darvish tossed from the mound from the right and left sides. Darvish throws from the left side during workouts as a way to keep his delivery in balance. While with Hokkaido Nippon Ham of the Pacific League, Darvish would throw from the left side on the first day after a start. 


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Matt Boyd 
Matt Boyd LHP

Hometown: Mercer Island, WA
Height/Weight: 6' 3", 215 lb
Position: Pitcher
Throws: Left (throws a football right-handed)
Velocity: 95 mph 

A natural right-hander, Matt Boyd was a starting left-handed pitcher for the Oregon State Beavers in the PAC 12, with a 7-2 record in 2013.

"Boyd arrived at Oregon State as a pitcher-first baseman who hit .464 and had an 0.84 ERA with 91 strikeouts in 58 innings as a prep senior."

Following his senior year at OSU, LHP Matt Boyd was drafted in the 6th round (175th overall) of the  2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft by Toronto.


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Max Homick 

Max Homick is an Ambidextrous Gem

By Jim Ecker | Perfect Game USA
January 21, 2010

Max Homick gets strange looks on a baseball field sometimes. Opponents aren't sure what they've just seen. Does he have a twin brother? Are they seeing double? Is it an optical illusion?

That's what happens when you pitch with your left hand, then occasionally move to third base and throw with your right hand.

"They don't believe it at first," Homick told Perfect Game USA. "I start seeing these weird looks. After the game they'll be like, 'Did you just throw with both hands?' And I say, 'Yeah, I did.' Everyone just thinks it's crazy. Everyone is like, 'Man, I wish I could do that.'"


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Jeff Yoder 

On The Other Hand, He Could've Picked Football Pottsville Senior Jeff Yoder Is A Righthanded Pitcher . . . And A Lefthanded Quarterback.

By Sally Pollak, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
POSTED: November 09, 1994

Recruited by Division I colleges in both football and baseball, Jeff Yoder decided last week to pursue baseball. He made an oral commitment to Clemson University and will sign a national letter of intent today, the first day of the early signing period. Clemson last spring won its second straight Atlantic Coast Conference title. Ranked No. 1 the last month of the season, the Tigers compiled a 57-18 record, the best in college baseball.

"After my junior year, I didn't know what I wanted to do," Yoder said. ''But over the summer, I decided to do baseball. I kept getting more and more attention for my pitching."

Harold Yoder can take credit for his son's two-handed talents. When Jeff was young, he begged his father for a lefthander's baseball glove. But his father insisted that he use the old mitts lying around the house, hand-me- downs from Yoder's two older, righthanded brothers.

"I'm pitching righty because my dad wouldn't buy me a lefty glove," said Yoder, who adapted with ease.
Read more


Jeff Yoder Minor League Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

Jeff Yoder - Asst Coach Penn State Schuylkill

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Softball 

Sierra Amundson switches pitching arm after Tommy John Surgery - MaxPreps

A highly challenging experiment is proving successful and could be a career enhancement for the future.

In August of 2013, Sierra Amundson, a rising junior softball pitcher at Central Cass (Casselton, N.D.), underwent "Tommy John surgery." This surgery has become commonplace in baseball, but not nearly as common in softball - especially on such a young person.

During the three-hour surgery, performed by North Dakota State University team doctor Bruce Piatt, a tendon was taken from her right wrist and used to strengthen the existing weakened tendon in her right elbow. 

Faced with the prospect of losing her entire junior season, Sierra vowed to try pitching left-handed.


Central Cass standout to pitch left-handed following surgery
By Tom Mix, INFORUM | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2014

Casselton, N.D.- Sierra Amundson has been a regular member of the Central Cass softball team's pitching rotation the past two seasons. After going 8-0 as a starter her sophomore season in which Central Cass won the North Dakota Class B state championship, Amundson was penciled in as the team's returning ace in 2014- at least until early August of last year. That is when the right-handed junior found out her pitching arm needed Tommy John surgery- a procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body.
Read More


Beyond The Game: Sierra Amundson



Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) - When I say Tommy John surgery any sports fan will cringe.

The surgery almost guarantees that a player will be sidelined for a full year, or in some cases longer.


In this week's Beyond The Game, Tim Frie explains how one local athlete is not allowing that surgery to sideline her this spring.
Watch the video


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