NEW YORK -- His teammates piled on two blue sofas smack in the middle of the clubhouse. No matter that most of them were about to play their first professional home game -- Angelina Jolie was on the TV, her curves freezing their pre-game preparations like a January blizzard.
Pat Venditte stood alone by his locker. A Staten Island cap pulled low over his brow, his pinstriped jersey tucked neatly into his pants. Venditte, the Yankees' 20th-round draft pick, was silent, a calm intensity filling his eyes.
Being different is nothing new for Venditte. He's never had a problem being one of the boys. But when Venditte's on the mound, there's something about him that teammate Brad Rulon calls "pretty strange."
Venditte is professional baseball's sole ambidextrous pitcher. In fact, he's the only switch-pitcher he's ever known. "I can't wait to get out there," Venditte said hours before the Yankees' season opener. The closer never had a chance. Staten Island was rocked early, needing six pitchers just to finish a 9-4 loss to the Cyclones in their home opener on Wednesday night.
"I'm just looking forward to getting my opportunity," Venditte said.
How rare is Venditte? MLB has seen just one of his kind since the 1800s. Reliever Greg Harris, regularly right-handed, threw an inning using both arms for the Expos in 1995.
How'd this start? Well, it's as simple as a father's wish. When Venditte was three years old, his dad noticed his ambidextrous nature and pushed him to maximize his full two-handed potential, making him work not only on both throwing arms, but also on strengthening each leg.
While a senior at Creighton University, Venditte fired off a league-high 101 strikeouts in 37 outings, posting a 9-3 record with seven saves and a 3.34 ERA. But his success came only after proving himself to his manager, who only allowed him to pitch righty during his freshman season.
Yankees' first-year skipper Pat McMahon says that, in his eyes, Venditte's got nothing left to prove. He's made it to this level doing what he does best -- befuddling hitters with a 90-plus MPH fastball from the right side and a nasty left-handed slider. McMahon won't fix something that's not broken.
"He's been working on this his whole life," McMahon said. "It's all part of the process with him."
McMahon couldn't think of anyone he's seen like Venditte. Not even Jim Abbott, who pitched to a high level in the majors despite being born without a right hand. "He's a totally different situation," the skipper said. "Venditte's unique."
The 22-year-old reliever totes to the mound a specially made, six-fingered mitt, allowing him to switch throwing arms after each at-bat. He cannot, however, change sides in the middle of an at-bat.
Venditte, cool and confident, was actually drafted twice. The Yankees picked him in the 45th round in 2007, but he refused to sign, opting rather to live the college life for a final season. Now that he's in the bigs, he vows not to forget a moment.
Venditte's first action was memorable. The Nebraskan pitched two scoreless frames of intra-squad ball in Tampa from the right side. On Wednesday night, once most of the crowd had shuffled from the Ballpark at St. George, Venditte had his first whiff of a professional mound, tossing 15 pitches from each side in the bullpen.
His teammates didn't know at first what to make of him. They were stunned to see such ability, such grace from both sides of the rubber while they could only master one.
"I don't think the questions have stopped yet," Rulon said. "There's been a lot of jokes."
And there may be until Venditte finally takes the to the hill. But when he does, he expects to swat way his detractors. With both arms.
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