The A’s went for a little bit of history-in-the-making Friday morning, deciding to call up switch-pitcher Pat Venditte from Triple-A Nashville. He will be with the team Friday night in Fenway Park.
Venditte throws both left-handed and right-handed, and he’s the first pitcher in history to have done that as a regular thing. Greg Harris, a pitcher that Venditte idolized as a kid, was a right-hander who threw one game both lefty and righty. It was the last game of his big league career, Sept. 28, 1995.
There have had to be special rules in the minor leagues just to address the uniqueness of Venditte, 29, who has been pitching with some considerable success with Nashville.