Ambidextrous….

I grew up in a city where most kids had very little chances of going regularly to a playground to play. By children I mean kids approaching their teens. At that time, it was not unusual to find a game of cricket or football (yes, football and not soccer) being played on the road in every other locality in the later afternoons. Atleast this was the case in the neighbourhood that I grew up in. I myself though am lucky enough to have got the gift of a school which prides itself in the availability of 3 playing grounds of differring sizes. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed my co-curricular acitivities, which majorly involved football and badminton. I made my first appearance for the school football team when I was in standard 6 and from those very nascent days I made it a point to be able to use both my legs for the game. This was a point I thought was an utmost necessity to excel. Hey, it is not everyday that you find a right-legged player playing left back in a school game. I wish I could boast of equal fluency in both legs, or for that matter while batting in cricket (yes, I can bat with my left too, though my shots are limited).

Even though in football most players make use of both feet, they usually have one favourite. I am yet to come across a similar trend in any other game. Until now that is. I was really stunned to catch the news of an ambidextrous pitches in baseball. Purely amazing.

Wait for it. That isn’t all. The guy throws right handed to right handed hitters and uses the left arm for lefties. Wouldn’t it be a comical situation if someone could hit with both ? Be careful what you wish for, it just might come true. And so it did.

Excerpt from the NY Time article :

“A switch-pitcher facing a switch-hitter could make a fine Abbott and Costello routine. Against Nebraska last year, a switch-hitter came to the plate right-handed, prompting Venditte to switch to his right arm, which caused the batter to move to the left-hand batter’s box, with Venditte switching his arm again. Umpires ultimately restored order, applying the rule (the same as that in the majors) that a pitcher must declare which arm he will use before throwing his first pitch and cannot change before the at-bat ends.”