Pat Venditte is a right-handed pitcher who throws left-handed. Or if you prefer, he’s a left-handed pitcher who throws right-handed. To settle it, he’s a switch-pitcher; and he’s the only of his kind currently throwing in professional baseball.

Born on June 30, 1985 in Omaha, Nebraska, Venditte began throwing right-handed, but at the age of three tried with his left as well, and the legacy of this switch-pitcher began. With his right arm he throws over the top with a fastball and a curveball, while his left comes in side-arm with a slider and a slower fastball. His six-fingered glove has two thumbs and can be worn on either hand, which saves him the trouble of having to switch gloves every time a batter comes to the opposite side of the plate of the one he faced previously.

He was selected by the New York Yankees in the 20th round (620th overall) of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft and went to play for the Staten Island Yankees in the New York-Penn League, where he had 23 saves in 30 games with a 0.83 ERA with 42 strikeouts. After a successful 2008 with the Staten Island Yankees, Venditte was named MiLB’s Best Short-Season Reliever of the Year. In 2009 he moved to the South Atlantic League to play for the Charleston RiverDogs where he served primarily as closer again. He recorded 20 saves with the club before getting a promotion to the Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League. In 27.1 innings with the team, Venditte had a 1.65 ERA, giving up just five earned runs on 25 hits. He’s also allowed six walks while striking out 37. He has worked primarily as a long-reliever and has not given up a run since July 26.

Venditte is only the second player in the modern era to pitch with both hands. The other was Greg A. Harris with the Montreal Expos, who was primarily a righty, but was allowed by manager Felipe Alou to pitch to two batters left-handed on September 28, 1995, the second-last game of his career. Harris’ glove is in the Hall of Fame; but Harris was not so fortunate. What it is about baseball that is so against switch-pitching? Will Pat Venditte ever get a chance in the majors as a legitimate ambidextrous hurler? Switch-hitting is an art, so why not give a pitcher a real chance to do something amazing?