Pat Venditte

Infobox MLB player

---

width = 250
name=Pat Venditte
position=Relief pitcher
team=New York Yankees
number=--
bats=Right
throws=Switch
birthdate=birth date and age|1985|6|30
birthplace=city-state|Omaha|Nebraska

Pat Venditte Jr. (born June 30, 1985 in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American baseball player. He is a minor league baseball player currently in the New York Yankees organization. Venditte is a "switch-pitcher", meaning he can pitch and throw proficiently with both arms. He is recognized as the only professional pitcher who is able to do this. He was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2007 but opted to return to Creighton for his senior year Harv|Schwarz|2007b. He was again drafted by the Yankees in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, in the 20th round with the 620th overall pick, and decided to sign. His initial assignment was to the Staten Island Yankees.

Early life

One of four children of Pat Sr. and Janet Venditte, Pat Jr. was born on June 30, 1985 in Omaha, Nebraska Harv|Tooley|Shields|2007|p=25. Pat Sr. noticed his son's ambidexterity when Pat Jr. was three years old, and encouraged vigorous ambidextrous athletic training throughout Pat Jr.'s childhood. Toward this end, the Venditte backyard included astroturf, a batting cage, a radar gun, and a pitching machine Harv|Nicholl|2007. In addition to training both arms from a young age, Pat Jr. practiced punting footballs with both legs in order to establish the leg motion needed when pitching with each arm Harv|Tooley|Shields|2007|p=25.

Venditte used both arms when playing in little league which sometimes caused him to be confused for twins Harv|Nicholl|2007. In high school, Venditte played for Omaha Central High School, achieving a 5-4 record his senior year and All-Nebraska second team honors Harv|Tooley|Shields|2007|p=25.

College career

Venditte joined the Creighton Bluejays in 2005 as a walk-on. Creighton head coach Ed Servais did not allow Venditte to pitch with both arms during his five appearances his freshman year fearing the spectacle would become a "circus" . However, Venditte has regularly used both arms in collegiate play since his sophomore year in which he attained a 3.02 ERA in 62.2 innings. In his junior year, Vendette appeared in 36 of 58 of Creighton's games before going into the 2007 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. His opponents batting average of .185 was the fourth best in the nation, and he achieved an 1.85 ERA Harv|Pivovar|2007a. At one point during the season, Venditte had a streak of 43 2/3 scoreless innings Harv|Olson|2007. In the 2007 season, Venditte earned first-team all-conference honors for the Missouri Valley Conference and led Creighton to its first ever conference championship in which he was named the tournament MVP Harv|Creighton University Athletics|2007. On May 28, 2007, Collegiate Baseball named Venditte the national player of the week Harv|Pivovar|2007a. He was named to the All-American third team for the 2007 season Harv|Pivovar|2007b. Venditte was also voted Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year by online pitching magazine InsidePitching.com Harv|Stone|2007.

On June 8, 2007, in the 45th Round of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft, the New York Yankees selected Venditte with the 1345th pick of the draft. Venditte was surprised by the pick because he had told all major league scouts that he intended to return to Creighton for his senior year. The Yankees called him during the 30th round of the draft asking him how much it would take to sign him, but Venditte refused to set a price Harv|Olson|2007. Ultimately, the Yankees were unable to sign Venditte before the August 15, 2007 signing deadline. Venditte said that he was not quite ready to turn professional and wants to build velocity with his left arm and add another pitch with his right arm Harv|Schwarz|2007b.

Venditte played 2006 summer ball for the Quincy Gems, and 2007 summer ball for the Wisconsin Woodchucks in the Northwoods League. As the Woodchucks' closer, he had a 4-1 record, 9 saves, a 1.76 ERA, and a .154 opponents' batting average Harv|Schwarz|2007b.

He was selected with the 620th pick in the 2008 MLB Draft by the New York Yankees.

Minor League Career

On June 19, 2008, in his first minor league appearance with the Staten Island Yankees against their crosstown rivals the Brooklyn Cyclones (the respective Yankees and Mets affiliates are the only two minor league teams in New York City), Venditte pitched a scoreless ninth inning for a Yankees win. The appearance is notable because there was an unusual incident before Venditte faced the last Cyclone batter; the batter, Ralph Henriquez, is a switch-hitter, and upon choosing to bat left- or right-handed (with Venditte subsequently choosing to pitch with the same hand), Henriquez would then go to the other side of the plate (and adjust his shin guard--which is worn on the front leg when a batter takes his stance) to regain the advantage. After this had happened several times the teams appealed to the umpiring crew, which ruled that the batter must first select from which side of the plate he intended to hit, and that the pitcher would then be allowed to declare with which arm he would pitch. Venditte subsequently struck out a very frustrated Henriquez (who slammed his bat against the dirt in anger) to end the game. [http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200806202968278]

[Pat Venditte Staten Island Yankees Stats Page]

Pitching style

When using his right arm, Venditte delivers over the top and can throw a curveball as well as a fastball reaching up to 91 mph. His left-handed delivery is side-armed in which he throws a slider and a moderately slower fastball. Venditte uses a custom made six-fingered glove with a thumb-hole on each side allowing him to easily switch back and forth Harv|Schwarz|2007a. He generally pitches with his right arm against right-handed batters and left-handed against left-handed batters which minimizes his opponent's advantage when strategically ordering batters in the line-up based on which side of the plate they hit from Harv|Nicholl|2007. Furthermore, by splitting his pitches between his arms, he is able to pitch longer than traditional pitchers before becoming fatigued Harv|Nicholl|2007.

On July 3 the Professional Baseball Umpire Corporation issued a new rule to limit the number of times a switch-pitcher and switch-hitter can change sides during one at-bat Harv|Abraham|2008.

The Pat Venditte Rule

The Professional Baseball Umpire Corporation (PBUC) released its official rules for dealing with ambidextrous pitchers. These guidelines were reached after PBUC staff consulted with a variety of sources, including the Major League Baseball Rules Committee.

Here’s how it reads:

* 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.

ee also

*Greg A. Harris, the only "switch-pitcher" in major-league baseball's modern era

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U2xkHOTvvw YouTube: CSTV Segment on Pat Venditte]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkPbJV2dffI YouTube: Switch-pitcher Venditte encounters switch hitter; chaos ensues]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aezL77j_P4o YouTube: Pat Venditte earning his 23rd save (SI Yankees record)]
* [http://www.baby-bombers.com/TheTeam/Profiles/2008/Pitchers/PatVenditte.htm Pat Venditte Player Profile on Baby-Bombers.com]

References

*Citation
title= Venditte MVP As Baseball Shocks Wichita State, 10-9, In 12 Inning Tourney Final
publisher=Creighton University Athletics
year=2007
url=http://www.gocreighton.com/sports/common/news_releases_detail.asp?articleID=5938
*Citation
last = Nicholl
first = Conor
year = 2007
date = May 18, 2007
title = Ambidextrous Venditte turning heads
publisher = MLB.com
url = http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070518&content_id=1971888&vkey=draft2007&fext=.jsp
*Citation
last = Olson
first = Eric
year = 2007
date = June 8, 2007
title = Yankees draft switch-pitching Venditte
publisher = North County Times
url = http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/09/sports/professional/21_26_196_8_07.txt
*Citation
last = Pivovar
first = Steven
year = 2007a
date = May 29, 2007
title = CU Baseball: National honor, Valley MVP award elevate pitcher Venditte
publisher = Omaha World-Herald
url = http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=2392608
*Citation
last = Pivovar
first = Steven
year = 2007b
date = May 31, 2007
title = NCAA Baseball: Cowboys limp into regional
publisher = Omaha World-Herald
url = http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=2393507
*Citation
last = Schwarz
first = Alan
year = 2007a
date = April 6 2007
title = Throwing Batters Curves Before Throwing a Pitch
publisher = New York Times
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/sports/baseball/06pitcher.html?ex=1333512000&en=a34837d6efb38b04&ei=5124&partner=digg&exprod=digg
*Citation
last = Schwarz
first = Alan
year = 2007b
date = August 17 2007
title = Yankees Sign Draft Picks, but Not Ambidextrous Pitcher
publisher = New York Times
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/sports/baseball/17draft.html?em&ex=1187496000&en=b50b0389834cd694&ei=5087%0A
*Citation
last = Stone
first = Tyson
year = 2007
date = June 1 2007
title = InsidePitching.com Announces Region Pitchers of the Year
publisher = InsidePitching.com
url=http://www.insidepitching.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=626
*Citation
last = Tooley
first = Katie
last2 = Shields
first2 = Kevin
year = 2007
title = 2007 Bluejay Baseball Media Guide
publisher = Creighton University Sports Information Office
url = http://www.gocreighton.com/sports/common/media_guides.asp?contentID=88&sportID=1&sectionID=9
*Citation
last = Abraham
first = Peter
publisher = LoHud Yankees Blog
accessdate = 2008-07-03
title = The switch-pitcher rule change
url = http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2008/07/03/the-switch-pitcher-rule-change/
year = 2008