Show of hands - Venditte's unique skill 2008

Show of hands - Venditte's unique skill poses challenge for all

Indiana Gazette (Indiana, PA) 21 Jun 2008

By Bill Konigsberg, AP Sports Writer

New York - Ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte can confound hitters - and umpires - when he's own the mound.

The umps working a New York-Penn League (short-season Class-A) game Thursday night between the Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones had nothing to go by when Venditte made his professional debut, less than two weeks after getting drafted in the 20th round by the Yankees.

He pitched the ninth, and after retiring two batters and allowing a single, a switch hitter stepped to the plate for Brooklyn, That's hardly unusual. But it becomes intriguing against Venditte, a switch pitcher.

...

"The reason he's not as fast from the left is he drops his arm from the left side to get more movement, he throws a sweeping slider," he said. "The coach at Creighton thought it was more difficult to hit. He has equal arm strength. He can stand at home plate and throw it out of the ballpark from both sides."

The Yankees have enough faith that Venditte can bring his ambidextrous pitching game to the majors
to draft him not once, but twice.

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