Le 18/08/1974, pour éviter le 1B des Buffaloes de Kintetsu Clarence Jones, le lanceur partant des Nippon-Ham Fighters Naoki Takahashi a été déplacé en 3e base, avant d’être ramené au monticule après que Jones ait obtenu un but sur balles. Takahashi a terminé le match et est devenu le seul lanceur à obtenir la victoire et le sauvetage dans le même match.
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Par thecursedlexus
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The last time I posted this, it got taken down for « clickbait » because it theoretically could’ve happened before saves were tracked in NPB. I.E. pre-1974. So guess what I did. I went through every game from 1936 to 1973 to see if it had happened before. It hadn’t. Hence why it suprised everyone, hence why NPB banned what we call the Waxahatchee Swap before the 1975 season. That’s all I’m gonna say on the matter. But that spite-fueled information gathering session will actually help me in future projects so I guess it all worked out.
Full context:
Clarence Jones was the man Takahashi feared and hated the most in those days, and was arguably the second-best foreign player of the 70s after Taiyo Whales second baseman John Sipin. After Takahashi tossed him two balls, Jones looked to have him right where he wanted him.
So Fighters manager Futoshi Nakanishi went over the rules, and realized something, while taking Takahashi out of the game would mean he couldn’t be used again, if he had Takahashi play the field for an at-bat, he could step back out on the mound after Jones was dealt with.
So that’s what they did.
Isamu Nakahara was summonded from the pen to face Jones, and Naoki Takahashi took up position at 3rd base. Third baseman Toshizo Sakamoto moved to shortstop, and shortstop Masatoshi Nakahara (no relation) was lifted from the game.
Nakahara would finish the walk and Takahashi would take the mound again immediately after. Since Takahashi had started the plate appearance, the walk was credited to him. Sakamoto would move back to third base, and Kenichi Yaezawa would take over at shortstop.
While the umpires allowed the whole thing to happen, they were clearly miffed by it, so when Jones stepped up to face Takahashi again in the 9th, Takahashi stayed in the game, and Jones homered off him.
Still, the Fighters would end up winning the game 2-1 and Takahashi would become the first pitcher to record a win and a save in the same game.
NPB would allow the stats to stand, but would tell the teams “haha, very funny, don’t do that again” and changed the rule in the offseason, so Takahashi would remain the only pitcher to record the win and the save in the same game.
[Full Box Score](https://2689web.com/1974/fighters.html)
Takahashi Swap is genius baseball. Did MLB neuter this strategy in the last few years?