Ambidextrous pitcher

[EricG]

I have heard of ambidextrous twins who would share gloves. One would pitch the other would play 3B and they had a glove for each hand between them.

[NorthsideAvenger]

Besides the obvious matchup advantages of an ambidextrous pitcher, wouldn't such a pitcher be able to go a lot longer into games? (assuming he's pitching well of course) When one arm gets tired, switch to the other.

 

Not necessarily. You still have to have the stamina to keep pitching, or risk developing bad habits. It's not a matter of "switching" arms, it's a matter if he has the stamina in the legs to keep pumping.

[Backtobanks]

I saw this bit on ESPN, that's totally awesome.

 

Hopefully he can get some more heat on his fastball and possibly make it in the bigs. (he throws 85-87 RH and 80-84 LH)

 

If he makes it to the bigs, he can shut out the Cubs on 2 consecutive days.

[Jehrico]

Besides the obvious matchup advantages of an ambidextrous pitcher, wouldn't such a pitcher be able to go a lot longer into games? (assuming he's pitching well of course) When one arm gets tired, switch to the other.

 

Not necessarily. You still have to have the stamina to keep pitching, or risk developing bad habits. It's not a matter of "switching" arms, it's a matter if he has the stamina in the legs to keep pumping.

 

It's probably a little of both. Depending on the mechanics and style of pitching (finess vs power), there's probably a little arm in there. But you're right in that alot of people think fatigue is just an issue with the throwing arm for pitchers. For bigger guys, your lower back can fatigue too.

 

I wish Prior and Wood were ambidextrous. The benefit for those guys wouldn't necessarily be going deeper into games, but rather, throwing with one arm while rehabbing the other!

[Bull]

HE WAS AMBIDEXTROUS, BUT NEVER PITCHED LEFT-HANDED IN A GAME. HOWEVER, SOMETIMES ON THE DAY AFTER HE PITCHED, HE WOULD THROW BATTING PRACTICE LEFT-HANDED! :lol:

 

Is he still alive? even at 60-70 years old, he may be the Cubs solution to no Left handed BP pitcher.

[hardcorecubfan]

HE WAS AMBIDEXTROUS, BUT NEVER PITCHED LEFT-HANDED IN A GAME. HOWEVER, SOMETIMES ON THE DAY AFTER HE PITCHED, HE WOULD THROW BATTING PRACTICE LEFT-HANDED! :lol:

 

Is he still alive? even at 60-70 years old, he may be the Cubs solution to no Left handed BP pitcher.

 

At first I smilled and chuckled at that statement then frowned and thought he might actually help. How pathetic

[Jehrico]

HE WAS AMBIDEXTROUS, BUT NEVER PITCHED LEFT-HANDED IN A GAME. HOWEVER, SOMETIMES ON THE DAY AFTER HE PITCHED, HE WOULD THROW BATTING PRACTICE LEFT-HANDED! :lol:

 

Is he still alive? even at 60-70 years old, he may be the Cubs solution to no Left handed BP pitcher.

Hell, he's probably better than Rusch, and would sign for less money! Put him in the pen as the long man!

[cubfan1955]

Great...a pitcher that can go on the DL for the Cubs with TWO sore arms. :wink:

[Tim Burr]

HE WAS AMBIDEXTROUS, BUT NEVER PITCHED LEFT-HANDED IN A GAME. HOWEVER, SOMETIMES ON THE DAY AFTER HE PITCHED, HE WOULD THROW BATTING PRACTICE LEFT-HANDED! :lol:

 

Is he still alive? even at 60-70 years old, he may be the Cubs solution to no Left handed BP pitcher.

 

I would say he is probably not among the living because it said he went 15-11 in 1956 at age 42. Let's see, 42+50 =92! :roll: But I'll bet if he were, he would have done that in a heart beat. Even as one of the ace pitchers for the Angels, I saw him pitch on a Sunday for expenses in a semi-pro game in the off season. The article said he only had one pitch a fastball starting out, but believe me this man threw some smoke. He must have really had a lot of stamina to pitch batting practice left handed the next day!

 

This LA Angel minor league club he played on was considered by some to be more talented then the parent Cubs team. That is because the pay wasn't millions of dollars in the majors then and these older star players loved playing and didn't want to sit on the bench. There were only eight teams in each league in the majors, so mediocrity wasn't rewarded like it is now because the competition was fierce! I saw the old Cubs team play with Billy Williams, Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, etc. when they played the Dogers in LA and know what talent is because that was a very good team. And yet they could never win the pennant, so I think that makes my point about the type of talent that was out there, don't you? :)

[NCCubFan]

Great...a pitcher that can go on the DL for the Cubs with TWO sore arms. :wink:

He could undergo Tommy John surgery on one elbow and rotator cuff or labrum surgery on the other shoulder simultaneously. :D

[srbin84]

HE WAS AMBIDEXTROUS, BUT NEVER PITCHED LEFT-HANDED IN A GAME. HOWEVER, SOMETIMES ON THE DAY AFTER HE PITCHED, HE WOULD THROW BATTING PRACTICE LEFT-HANDED! :lol:

 

Is he still alive? even at 60-70 years old, he may be the Cubs solution to no Left handed BP pitcher.

Hell, he's probably better than Rusch, and would sign for less money! Put him in the pen as the long man!

 

Rusch probably is a primarily right handed ambidextrous pitcher.

[Careless]

Great...a pitcher that can go on the DL for the Cubs with TWO sore arms. :wink:

Congratulations on making the first original cubs+pitcher+injury joke in about 2 years here.

[cubfan1955]

Great...a pitcher that can go on the DL for the Cubs with TWO sore arms. :wink:

Congratulations on making the first original cubs+pitcher+injury joke in about 2 years here.

 

Next time I'll check with you to see if it's been done before.

[Banedon]

Besides the obvious matchup advantages of an ambidextrous pitcher, wouldn't such a pitcher be able to go a lot longer into games? (assuming he's pitching well of course) When one arm gets tired, switch to the other.

 

Not necessarily. You still have to have the stamina to keep pitching, or risk developing bad habits. It's not a matter of "switching" arms, it's a matter if he has the stamina in the legs to keep pumping.

 

I don't know. Do you think Maddux only pitches to 80 pitches or so each game because his legs are tired, or because his arm is? That would probably be a really fun question to ask a pitcher the next time we have a chat going with a minor leaguer.