Pat Venditte

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.

Patrick Michael Venditte Jr. (born June 30, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Miami Marlins.

Pat Jr. was born on June 30, 1985, in Omaha, Nebraska, one of four children of Pat Sr. and Janet Venditte.

Pat Sr. played college baseball as a catcher.

Though his son is naturally right-handed, Pat Sr. trained his son to throw with both arms to give his son an edge in athletic competitions.

Toward this end, the Venditte backyard included astroturf, a batting cage, a radar gun, and a pitching machine.

In addition to training both arms from a young age, Pat Jr. practiced punting footballs with both legs to establish the leg motion needed when pitching with each arm.

Venditte used both arms when playing in Little League, which sometimes caused him to be confused for twins.

Venditte attended Omaha Central High School.

He had a 15–4 win–loss record during his senior year, earning All-Nebraska second-team honors.

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".

Starting with his sophomore season, Venditte regularly used both arms in collegiate play; he posted a 3.02 earned run average (ERA) in 62 2⁄3 innings pitched.

After the season, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Quincy Gems of the Central Illinois Collegiate League.

In his junior year, Venditte appeared in 36 of Creighton's 58 games before appearing in the 2007 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

His opponents batting average (OBA) of .185 was the fourth-best in the nation, and he posted a 1.85 ERA.

At one point during the season, Venditte had a streak of 43 2⁄3 scoreless innings.

On May 28, 2007, Collegiate Baseball named Venditte the national player of the week.

For the season, Venditte earned first-team All-Conference honors for the Missouri Valley Conference and was named Most Valuable Player of the conference tournament, in which Creighton won its first conference championship.

He was named to the All-American third team for the 2007 season.

Venditte was also voted Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year by online pitching magazine InsidePitching.com.

After the season, he played collegiate summer baseball 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.

On June 8, 2007, the New York Yankees selected Venditte in the 45th round of the 2007 Major League Baseball draft with the 1,345th overall pick.

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.

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 wanted to build velocity with his left arm and add another pitch with his right.

After attending Creighton University, Venditte was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2008.

Venditte was once again drafted by the Yankees in the 2008 Major League Baseball draft, this time in the 20th round with the 620th overall pick, and this time, he decided to sign.

His initial assignment was to the Staten Island Yankees of the Class-A Short-Season New York–Penn League.

On June 19, 2008, in his first minor league appearance with Staten Island against the Brooklyn Cyclones, Venditte pitched a scoreless ninth inning for a Yankees win.

While facing the last Cyclone batter, Ralph Henriquez, a switch-hitter, a rules crisis emerged.

When Henriquez chose to bat left- or right-handed, Venditte subsequently chose to pitch with the same hand.

Henriquez then went to the other side of the plate to regain the advantage.

He signed with the Athletics as a free agent before the 2015 season and made his MLB debut that year.

Venditte was a switch pitcher, capable of pitching proficiently with both arms.

He was recognized as the only professional pitcher who was able to do this.

Venditte's rare ability to pitch with either arm required both Major and Minor League Baseball to create a rule for ambidextrous pitchers, known colloquially as the "Pat Venditte Rule".

This rule essentially requires any ambidextrous pitcher to declare which hand he will use to pitch to a batter before the at-bat starts and to throw with that hand through the entire at-bat (unless he is injured during the at-bat).