Pat Venditte

Patrick Michael Venditte Jr. (/vɛnˈdɛti/; born June 30, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has also played in MLB for the Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers. After attending Creighton University, Venditte was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2008. He signed with the Athletics as a free agent before the 2015 season, and made his MLB debut that year. \n', ' Venditte is a switch pitcher, capable of pitching proficiently with both arms. He is recognized as the only active professional pitcher who is 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).\n', ' 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.\n', '