Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Pat Venditte is a switch-pitcher. You’ve heard of a switch-hitter, I presume, but Venditte’s something of a special oddity on the mound, able to pitch with both arms. He uses the trick to his advantage, matching up righty on right, and lefty on left, no matter who is in the batter’s box.
Except when that batter, himself, is a switch-hitter.
That’s when things can get silly:
The rule is that the switch-pitcher must first declare which arm he’ll use (yes, this rule came about because of Venditte), and then the batter elects which side of the plate to hit from. In that video, Venditte picked his side, but Pirates hitter Antoan Richardson grabbed a batting helmet that made it look like he was going to hit from the other side, so Venditte shrugged, and said he’d pitch from the other side … but the decision had already been made, and Richardson started chuckling and retrieved his proper helmet.
It’s hard to tell if Richardson was just having fun with Venditte, or if the reverse was true, or if there was just some genuine confusion.
That’s what happens when the switch-pitcher faces the switch-hitter.