fowler@uw-beaver (Rob Fowler) (10/05/85)
Since there was a discussion of the subject of switch pitchers, I thought you might enjoy this quotation from "It's What You Learn After You Know it All That Counts", Earl Weaver's autobiography. p.15 -- "Sammy Stewart earned the win in relief, allowing only 1 hit and no runs in 4-1/3 innings. The highlight of his appearance occurred with 2 out in the ninth. Stewart, a strapping right-hander, got 2 quick strikes on left-hand-hitting Dave Revering. Then Stewart-whom Rick Dempsey calls `a crazy country boy from Swannonoa, North Carolina'- suddenly slipped the glove off his left hand and onto his right. He started into a left-handed wind-up and was about to throw the ball southpaw, but Revering stepped out of the batter's box. Then Stewart reversed his glove and threw a right-handed pitch that Revering popped up to end the game. "I can throw left-handed," Steward said afterward. "Hard, too. The guys have seen me do it in the outfield before games. I was going for the element of surprise. Trouble was, Revering picked it up and backed out. Maybe next time" But pitching coach Ran Miller and general manager Hank Peters were upset about Stewart's glove switch, as if they feared the Yankees might think he was trying to show them up. Weaver thought "it was one of the greatest things I've ever seen." He was laughing about the incident in his office. "I would have been delighted if he'd thrown left-handed," Earl said. "If it had been a strike, I would have used Sammy 3 innings tomorrow night left-handed. Sammy says he's got a good curveball lefty and he was thinking of throwing one to Reggie Jackson, who was up before Revering. I love it!, Hell, it's things like this that have kept me in the game so long! You can always come to the ball park and see something you've never seen before." (end of quotation) Notice that from this account that the major leaguers seemed to not have questioned the legality of switch pitching.
gates@bdmrrr.UUCP (Al Gates) (10/07/85)
> p.15 -- "Sammy Stewart earned the win in relief, allowing only 1 hit and no > runs in 4-1/3 innings. The highlight of his appearance occurred with 2 out > in the ninth. Stewart, a strapping right-hander, got 2 quick strikes on > left-hand-hitting Dave Revering. Then Stewart-whom Rick Dempsey calls `a > crazy country boy from Swannonoa, North Carolina'- suddenly slipped the > glove off his left hand and onto his right. He started into a left-handed > wind-up and was about to throw the ball southpaw, but Revering stepped out > of the batter's box. Then Stewart reversed his glove and threw a > right-handed pitch that Revering popped up to end the game. > I knew Sammy Stewart did something like this once but I couldn't put my finger on the actual occurence. I believe that the next time Dave Revering faced Sammy, he poked one into the seats. I remember Brooks Robinson saying something about the revenge factor causing that homerun but I'm not sure. Tim Murnane was also a switch pitcher in the 1880's. In the edition of the MacMillan Encyclopedia of Baseball he is listed as batting both and throwing both. Unfortunately, I don't know the details of how he did this. -- /\ /\ / \/^\ /\ /\/\/\ /^\ /\ /^/\^\ /\ Al Gates\^/ \/\ / \/ \/\/ \/\ / ^ \/ \^^^\ BDM Corporation \/\ /^\ / {seismo,rlgvax}!bdmrrr!gates \ /\ \ 7915 Jones Branch Drive\/ \ \ / \ / \ \ McLean, Virginia 22102 \ \ \/ \/ \ \ \ \ \^^\