One of baseball’s most endearing qualities is its ability to link the past with the present, while simultaneously allowing the game’s current players to contribute to that history in a significant way. Already this season Francisco Liriano posted a completely unique pitching line, and Bryce Harper became the first player to belt career homer No. 100 and a grand slam concurrently.
Wednesday night, it was Oakland Athletics pitcher Kendall Graveman’s turn to claim a bit of history for himself. Graveman batted in the cleanup spot for the A’s in the top of the fifth inning, becoming the first starting pitcher to do so since Babe Ruth did it for the Yankees back on June 1, 1920.
However, Graveman’s historical at-bat was not exactly intentional. Oakland started the game with a traditional lineup by American League standards. But when third basemen Danny Valencia left the game — against the Yankees of all teams — with a hamstring injury, things got interesting.
In Valencia’s absence, second baseman Chris Coghlan moved to third base, and designated hitter Jed Lowrie took his place at second. This left a hole in the DH spot which, according to MLB rules, cannot be filled for the remainder of the game by another designated hitter. The position is essentially terminated.
Enter Graveman, who was now forced to bat in Valencia’s open spot at cleanup. The moment was short lived, however, as he struck out against Nathan Eovaldi in the top of the fifth.
Still, Graveman not only updated Ruth’s feat, he also became the first starting pitcher to bat at the new Yankee Stadium.
Kendall Graveman is the first starting pitcher to bat at the current Yankee Stadium.
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) April 21, 2016
He was also the first Athletics starting pitcher to bat cleanup since 1913.
If all that was not enough for the 25-year-old, Graveman even managed to snag his first win of the season in a 5-2 Oakland victory. The right-hander allowed one run and three hits over 6.1 innings, while striking out eight batters. Not bad for a night’s work.
