Let McCoy catch and play 1B!

Before you dismiss this as nonsense, hear me out. After Mike McCoy's perfect inning pitched on Saturday against the Boston Red Sox, this bit in Gregor Chisholm's MLB.com write-up on it caught my eye:

McCoy has played seven different positions during his three-year career in the Majors. The only spots he has not played are catcher and first base.

I knew McCoy was a super-sub, but seven of nine positions in his short career? To put this in perspective, our other super-sub John McDonald has played four positions (2B, 3B, SS, LF) in his much longer career.

Just two short now, my first reaction is I want to see McCoy play them all. He's got his inning as a pitcher, which has got to be the toughest one to check off, like getting the triple out of the way early in a bid for the cycle.

How many players have played all nine positions? Well maybe more than you'd think.

Couldn't find an authoritative source, but according to a Yahoo! Answers post:

Four players have played all 9 positions in one game: Bert Campaneris, Cesar Tovar, Shane Halter and Scott Sheldon.

In addition there are an additional 53 players that have played every position in their career (with at least 3 games in the OF).

Cap Anson, Roger Bresnahan, John Cassidy, Spider Clark, Jim Clinton, Fred Corey, Jerry Denny, Mike Dorgan, Buck Ewing, Bob Ferguson, Jocko Fields, Frank Fleet, Jimmie Foxx, Bernie Friberg, Bill Friel, Charlie Gettig, Peaches Graham, John Grim, Bill Hallman, Paul Hines, Art Hoelskoetter, Frank Isbell, Jim Keenan, King Kelly, Jim Lille, Greg Litton, Steve Lyons, Marty Martinez, Sport McAllister, Deacon McGuire, Cal McVey, Sam Mertes, Fred Mitchell, John Morrill, Jose Oquendo, Jim O'Rourke, Bill Pecota, Heinie Peitz, Jimmy Peoples, Blondie Purcell, Bobby Reis, Hardy Richardson, Yank Robinson, Cookie Rojas, Jack Rothrock, Joe Sommer, Joe Sugden, Ezra Sutton, Ed Swartwood, Farmer Vaughn, Jimmy Walsh, Deacon White, Jimmy Wolf.

Geez, four guys have actually done it in a single game? According to a WikiAnswers post, Campaneris even pitched both left- and right-handed in his all-position game. Now that's just showing off.

Nevertheless, 57 players isn't many when you consider all who've ever played the game. And most did it in the pre-modern era and/or the early part of the 20th Century.

Here are those names again, this time I’ve added the years they played according to Baseball-Reference: 

Bert Campaneris (1964-83), Cesar Tovar (1965-76), Shane Halter (1997-2004) and Scott Sheldon (1997-2001).

Cap Anson (1871-97), Roger Bresnahan (1897-1915), John Cassidy (1875-85), Spider Clark (1889-90), Jim Clinton (1872-86), Fred Corey (1878-85), Jerry Denny (1881-94), Mike Dorgan (1877-90), Buck Ewing (1880-97), Bob Ferguson (1871-84), Jocko Fields (1887-92), Frank Fleet (1871-75), Jimmie Foxx (1925-45), Bernie Friberg (1919-33), Bill Friel (1901-03), Charlie Gettig (1896-99), Peaches Graham (1902-12), John Grim (1888-99), Bill Hallman (1888-1903), Paul Hines (1872-91), Art Hoelskoetter (1905-08), Frank Isbell (1898-1909), Jim Keenan (1875-91), King Kelly (1878-93), Jim Lille (???), Greg Litton (1984-95), Steve Lyons (1985-93), Marty Martinez (1962-72), Sport McAllister (1896-1903), Deacon McGuire (1884-1912), Cal McVey (1871-79), Sam Mertes (1896-1906), Fred Mitchell (1901-13), John Morrill (1876-90), Jose Oquendo (1983-95), Jim O'Rourke (1872-1904), Bill Pecota (1986-94), Heinie Peitz (1892-1913), Jimmy Peoples (1884-89), Blondie Purcell (1879-90), Bobby Reis (1931-38), Hardy Richardson (1879-92), Yank Robinson (1882-92), Cookie Rojas (1962-77), Jack Rothrock (1925-37), Joe Sommer (1880-90), Joe Sugden (1893-1912), Ezra Sutton (1871-88), Ed Swartwood (1881-92), Farmer Vaughn (1886-99), Jimmy Walsh (1910-15), Deacon White (1871-90), Jimmy Wolf (1882-92).

So only 10 of the 57 players did it in the past 50 years (names in bold). Surprisingly though this includes all four who not only played every position in their careers, but in a single game. From Scott Halter's Wiki page:

On October 1, 2000, Halter showed his versatility by playing all nine positions in a single game, joining Bert Campaneris (Kansas City Athletics, September 8, 1965), Cesar Tovar (Minnesota Twins, September 22, 1968) and Scott Sheldon (Texas Rangers, September 6, 2000), in the select list of nine-position players in a Major League game. Halter went 4 for 5 at the plate with 3 RBI, and also scored the game winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

I don't remember Halter and Sheldon's games, which both came within a month of each other in 2000.

While I can see playing a bunch of positions in a game, I'd think the manager would have to be having some fun to make every position happen in one game. I didn't think baseball was allowed to have that kind of fun anymore.

You know the kind of fun that saw Minnie Minoso reactivated by the White Sox in 1976 and 1980 - after last appearing in 1964 - just so he could have played in five decades. MLB vetoed a similar comeback in 1990. Boo!

Nothing so dramatic here, but with Mike McCoy just two positions shy of playing the whole field, I say have a little fun with it and find an opportunity to get him an inning behind the plate and at first base this season.

Amid Saturday's dismal 16-4 loss, McCoy's relief appearance in the top of the ninth gave the fans something to finally smile about as they jumped to their feet and made a lot of noise for him ahead of getting his last out.

So why not have a little fun with his unusual super-sub feat, play it up that he's two positions short and maybe even let word out ahead of his expected ninth position appearance. Make a fun day out of it one afternoon.

Seems to me that baseball and pro sport take themselves too seriously these days and sometimes forget that it's just a bunch of guys playing a game. This is a great opportunity to have a little fun with an unusual achievement.

I'd love to see Mike McCoy join the small club of guys who've played every position, how about you?