The Tigers have traded several big-name players this season -- most notably J.D. Martinez and franchise legend Justin Verlander -- and are in a bit of "play out the chain" mode right now. We already know that manager Brad Ausmus is out after the season and the Tigers have gone 4-21 in September entering Wednesday night's affair.
Still, there's now something to look forward to, regarding utility man extraordinaire Andrew Romine:
Barring something strange, Ausmus said, Andrew Romine will play all nine positions Sunday at Minnesota.
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) September 27, 2017
The Twins will almost certainly have the second AL wild card sewn up by then, so this is a meaningless game.
Romine has appeared in 25 games at second base, 22 in center field, 21 at first, 21 at third, 16 in left, 10 in right, nine at short and one at pitcher so far this season. He's already done everything but catch. In fact, Romine has never appeared as a catcher in a minor-league or major-league game in his regular-season career. He's a capable enough defender everywhere else to deal with one meaningless inning, though.
Two takeaways here: This is obviously history and Ausmus appears to be going out in a blaze of glory.
On the latter part, it's really not a big deal, but some people get angry about "sideshows" or something the like. I noticed some angry Tigers fans in the replies to the above tweet -- but Ausmus is done after the game, so who cares?
The biggest takeaway is the quirky history involved. Here are the only players in MLB history to appear at all nine positions in the same game:
- Bert Campaneris; Athletics; Sept. 8, 1965
- Cesar Tovar; Twins; Sept. 22, 1968
- Scott Sheldon; Rangers; Sept. 6, 2000
- Shane Halter; Tigers; Oct. 1, 2000
As can be seen, the Tigers will now hold the record for this happening with two, barring a course change.
One might recall that actor Will Ferrell did so in several different spring training games in 2015 spring training as a gimmick for an HBO special and to raise money for charities dedicated to fight cancer.
Romine's moving around the diamond Sunday will be a gimmick, to, but in an otherwise meaningless game some fans will enjoy seeing it. Nothing wrong with that.
