Switch Pitching 101

Jun 7, 2015 Switch-pitcher Venditte on MLB debut A Switch Pitcher? The Nashville Sounds Have One, And His 6-Fingered Glove Is Awesome  By EMIL MOFFATT | nashvillepublicradio.org, May 2015 Being ambidextrous in baseball is not uncommon. Nearly every major league team has at least one switch hitter. But pitching with both arms? There has only been one player before who's done that: Greg Harris. The date is etched in Harris’s memory. It was September 28, 1995. “That was the day I threw left-handed, right-handed in Montreal against Cincinnati,” Harris says from his home in California.  No pitcher in the modern era had thrown with both arms in a big league game.  But it was just one inning at the very end of Harris’s career. Venditte, on the other hand, wants to become the first  full-time  switch pitcher. Listen to the radio version E:60 Pat Venditte ( view on ESPN ) Paul Harvey talking about Pat Venditte on Good Friday in 2...

Play Local - Have Fun - Save Money A well-known coach in the Seattle area once told me ... "Kids should play with a local team until they are in high school." When I asked him why, he said that baseball should be fun and kids have more fun playing games with their friends. Plus, kids on small local teams get more playing time and have the opportunity to play  different positions. He said that travel teams tend to overuse their best arms (hardest throwers) and then these kids come to him for rehab. Some players just get burned out on the experience. He also shared the concept of throwing more and pitching less. Great idea. Some drawbacks to playing select baseball ... Select/Travel teams are very expensive and take time away from school and family activities. The competition might be better, but not always.  The coaching usually isn't worth the cost. Unfortunately, there can be a lot of pressure on the players since there is too much focus on winning. Eat...

San Marino High School (Class of 2016) Titans Baseball team San Marino, California Height: 5'10" Weight: 190 lbs Positions: DH, RHP, LHP Bats: Left Throws: Both Glove: Custom 6-finger Mizuno Ambidextrous Glove JT McDonnell, from San Marino, practiced throwing left-handed when he was about nine and it just became natural. Before that, his parents thought he was right-handed. To gain an advantage, he pitches left-handed to lefties and right-handed to righties. This is the same strategy used by minor league pitcher Pat Venditte. Plus, JT throws a good curveball from both sides. Coach Mack Paciorek likes JTs versatility, it gives him an advantage and it's something that other teams can't plan for in a game. He also said that JT is an excellent student. JT McDonnell's  ( San Marino , CA) Baseball Stats | MaxPreps Gina's People: Ambidextrous Pitcher Fox 11 (KTTV - Los Angeles) Los Angeles News | FOX 11 LA KTTV Teams San Marin...

#Athletics SHP Pat Venditte, called up from @nashvillesounds , has just become 1st full-time switch-pitcher in modern MLB history. Awesome. — Jeff Hem (@JeffHemPBP) June 6, 2015 Make that 8 up, 8 down for @nashvillesounds switch-pitcher Pat Venditte, who lowers his ERA to 1.09 (3er/24.2ip). #Athletics — Jeff Hem (@JeffHemPBP) May 17, 2015 Scott developed this ambidextrous glove in 2008 with testing and feedback of switch-pitcher Pat… https://t.co/xzdKhawbdy — Carpenter Trade (@CarpenterTrade) May 21, 2015 Pat Venditte's line today for @nashvillesounds : 3.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 K. ERA is 1.23. Just saying, Oakland. http://t.co/ykOBCVpFos — Chris Jones (@MySecondEmpire) May 13, 2015 Pat Venditte @ PatVenditte Aubrey McCarty @ AubreyMcCarty55 Alex Trautner @ TrautNotTrout

"Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical." - Yogi Berra Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey says that baseball is 60 to 80% mental . College and pro players say the mental part of the game is huge, so why don't we spend more time on mental practice? Mental Practice Plans Source: Collegiate Baseball | Published: January 2012 By Alan Jaeger How adding 10 minutes to your daily practice can turn a good season into a great one Read More MENTAL TOUGHNESS TRAINING MANUAL FOR BASEBALL/SOFTBALL PLAYERS CONTROL Satchel Paige once said "If it's outside your control, ain't no use worrying, cause it's outside your control. And if it's under your control, ain't no use worrying, cause it's under your control". Right on Satchel. Just worry about what you can control. Make a list of those things you can control, such as your conditioning, your swing, how you handle yourself in the field, etc. On the other side, li...

Henry Knight switch pitcher warmup throws. Watch the six-finger glove change: https://t.co/Zqr2Vt5DX7 via @YouTube — Tim Knight (@TimKnight007) April 11, 2015 Henry Knight , ambidextrous pitcher >> ..

Have there ever been two switch pitchers on a team? Andrew Pullin (photo: Clearwater Threshers) Yes, Andrew Pullin and Drew Vettleson , from Washington. were switch pitchers for the NW Timberjacks 18U team. These talented baseball players were both recruited to play in college, and were also drafted out of high school by MLB teams. In 2015, Pullin and Vettleson who are good hitters - play outfield in the minor leagues. Did two ambidextrous pitchers ever throw in the same game? Yes. In one summer game, Andrew Pullin was the starting switch pitcher, and ambidextrous Drew Vettleson closed out the game. Drew Vettleson (photo: Harrisburg Senators) Listen to Andrew Pullin talk about the unique experience I think this event belongs in the Guinness World Records or Ripley's Believe It or Not! ... Threshers Spotlight: Andrew Pullin Former Switch-Pitcher at Ease in the Outfield By Kirsten Karbach / Clearwater Threshers 04/24/2015 Switch-pitchers ar...

Tyrone Daily Herald (Tyrone, PA) 29 Sep 1995 Greg Harris became the first switch pitcher in the big leagues in more than 100 years, facing two batters as a right-hander and two others as a lefty. Read the news article >> Found on Newspapers.com

Glove Shortage Made Edd Roush Ambidextrous The Oregon Daily Journal (Portland, Oregon)   5 Sep 1920 The story of how Eddie Roush, star outfielder of the Reds, can throw as well with his right hand as with his left dates back to his kid days. He says: "I have always been a natural southpaw. Throwing and betting left-handed is my regular style. But when I started out as an amateur in my home town in Indiana I found it impossible to secure a right-handed glove (for throwing left-handed). The only gloves in stock were for the left hand; also I was call upon to play  in the infield a great deal, and a left-handed infielder is not so good, so I learned how to throw with my right hand. I have always batted left-handed, though." Read the Article ... Roush, Edd | Baseball Hall of Fame Edd Roush captured the National League batting title in his first full season as a Red in 1917 with a .341 average. Growing up on a farm in Indiana, he developed extra...

Two-armed Hurler May Be Given Chance With Mound-Desperate Cubs Calvin Coolidge McLish By Hale Scarbrough Herald and News (Klamath Falls, Oregon), 18 Feb 1949 A gangling 23-year-old Choctaw Indian from out of Anadarko, Oklahoma, is bidding to be the most diverting pitcher, if not the best, to come down the pike since Dizzy Dean entered the majors. This fellow is ambidextrous, meaning he can toss the ball with either hand. He is Calvin Coolidge McLish, named for the 29th President of the United States but reputedly a great deal more talkative than the late Silent Cal. Nominally McLish is a righthander but reports himself just waiting behind the bush for a chance to do a little flinging with his other, or south, arm. He says he has been able to throw a baseball with equal ability with either arm since his grade school days, but when he picks up a pencil or uses his fork it's with his right fist. So that makes him a righthander. The big leagues haven't had a real a...

Be your own coach "If it's a choice between me telling them to do it, or them figuring it out, I'll take the second option every time.  You've got to make the kid an independent thinker, a problem-solver. You can't keep breast-feeding them all the time. The point is, they've got to figure things out for themselves". ( Landsdorp ) Shouting out instructions and telling a pitcher to " throw strikes " does not help them make adjustments on the mound. Yelling " nice pitch " when the throw was out of the strike zone does not help either. Each pitcher needs to learn to be their own pitching coach – something they learn while training with a master coach in practice. On playing up "Playing up for better competition is a very, and I mean very bad idea. If you dominate your age group and have no more competition, you can play up, but you have to dominate your age group. Lots of parents have their kids play up because there is less p...