Many Major League ballplayers ended up in different positions than where they started. Here are 13 examples.
Stan Musial (photo NY Times)
Stan Musial was a minor league pitcher for the Cardinals for three seasons. He had control problems and then a shoulder injury, which forced him from the mound. That worked out quite well for St. Louis. The Hall of Famer hit 475 home runs.
Rick Ankiel pitched for the Cardinals from 1999 until 2001, when he got the yips and couldn’t find home plate. After trying to regain his pitching form in the minors and briefly returning to the majors in 2004, he switched to the outfield in early 2005 and developed his skills as a hitter and fielder in the Cards’ minor-league system. He returned to the big club on August 9, 2007. As a Cardinal through 2009, Ankiel hit 47 home runs as an outfielder.
Tim Wakefield, the famed knuckleballer who won 200 games in the majors, was an eighth-round pick as a first baseman. But he hit just .189 in his first season in the minors, and he also annoyed his manager by constantly throwing a knuckleball during infield practice. Luckily for baseball, his coaches eventually let him try it from the mound.
Jack Clark was drafted as a pitcher by the San Francisco Giants. But in the Rookie League, he walked 19 batters in 15 innings while hitting .321. The Giants quickly converted him to an outfielder.
In 2005, the Angels selected a right-handed pitcher out of Lee County High School named Gerald Dempsey Posey III in the 50th and final round of the Draft. But Posey elected to keep playing for Florida State University instead of signing. Three years later, the Giants drafted Posey — better known as Buster — with the fifth overall pick in the 2008 Draft. By then, the future Hall of Famer had converted to catcher and become one of the top collegiate baseball players in the country.
Eddie Murray (photo courtesy This Day in Baseball)
Eddie Murray is one of only seven players in MLB history to be in both the 3,000 hit club and the 500 home run club. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003 in his first year of eligibility. Bill James ranks him as the fifth-best first baseman in MLB history. But Murray was drafted as a catcher out of high school by the Orioles in 1973.
Former Oakland A’s slugger Matt Stairs began his career as a second baseman and third baseman who even played shortstop at times. It was not until he reached the majors at age 24 that he converted to the outfield.
Former San Francisco Giant Michael Morse started in the majors as a shortstop, playing 57 games at that position. But he literally outgrew it. He became so big that the only logical places to put him were at first base, outfield, or designated hitter.
Jason Giambi came up with the Athletics as a third baseman. Oakland already had a guy named Mark McGwire at first. So Giambi played the hot corner, left field, and DH. It wasn’t until 1997 that he was moved to first base.
Dave Stieb, who won 176 games on the mound in his major league career, all but one of them with the Toronto Blue Jays, played the outfield for Southern Illinois University. But he was only drafted because he happened to pitch in relief on a day that major league scouts were at a game. Stieb was sure he could make it as an outfielder. However, he only hit .192 in 100 plate appearances in the minors and ultimately agreed to transition to the mound. Two years later, he was in the Blue Jays starting rotation.
Todd Helton was a pitcher and outfielder at the University of Tennessee (also a quarterback). In the Rockies’ minor league system, he played both first base and outfield. But once he made the majors, he played the outfield just 15 times as a rookie and never played there again. He became Colorado’s first baseman, playing solely for the Rockies for 17 seasons, the greatest player in franchise history.
And then, of course, there is Babe Ruth. George Herman Ruth began his major league career in 1914 with the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher. He had a lifetime 94-46 won-lost record and a 2.28 ERA. In 1916, he went 23-12 with a 1.75 E.R.A. In the World Series against Brooklyn that year, he pitched the longest complete game in World Series history, a 14-inning 2-1 victory over the Dodgers.
The Red Sox couldn’t help but notice how well Ruth hit the ball when he was in the lineup on the days he pitched. So, Boston started playing him in the outfield on some days when he was not pitching. By 1918, he was in the outfield pretty much every day, except when he was on the mound. He hit .300 that year. The following year, he hit .322 and led the league with 29 home runs. In 1920, he was traded to the Yankees, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Courtesy @BetRivers on X: HR: Ohtani 160/Ruth 159; on the mound, Ohtani 35-19/Ruth 35-18 (through 674 games).
Ruth first played baseball at St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys in Baltimore. He was a left-handed catcher. Since the school only had a right-handed catcher’s mitt, Ruth would catch the ball with his left hand. If a runner attempted to steal, he’d toss the glove aside, catch the ball in the air, and throw it to second base with his left hand.
One can’t mention Ruth without bringing up Shohei Ohtani, who, from his youth, has been a remarkable pitcher and batter. Ohtani’s prime Major League seasons have been considered among the greatest in baseball history, with some comparing them favorably to the early career of Ruth.
Sometimes we forget that first and foremost, baseball players are athletes. The ones who make it to the majors are exceptional athletes with more than one set of skills. It shouldn’t surprise us when they succeed at another position, even one they have never tried before.
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This column, which has been contemporized, first appeared in The Vacaville Reporter on August 8, 2019.
