INTERVIEW with Pat Venditte Sr.
In early December, writer Gregory S. Walsh had an opportunity to interview Pat Venditte Sr..

Greg Walsh
            Thank you for doing this interview with me this evening.  I understand that Michael Lavery has been doing consulting work with you and your son with his whole brain power concepts. Can you tell us about left-handedness or ambidexterity in your family? And can you comment on your belief in the nature vs. nurture position with your son’s upbringing?
 
Pat Venditte Sr.
            Thanks for your interest in this story Greg. Well my mother is left-handed and my 17 year old daughter is mixed handed in that she throws and bats left-handed in softball. She also golf’s left-handed. However, she eats and writes right-handed. So when it came to Pat, we noticed that he threw the ball-left handed at the age of three. He maybe preferred his right hand for other dominant skills, but I believed this ambidexterity could be nurtured. So my wife Jan and I kept encouraging him to throw with either hand. We even encouraged him to eat and write with both hands. He was a very obedient child so he didn’t resist our encouragement. We built a hitting and pitching cage in the back yard and this is where the training began. I also prompted him to kick a football with either foot as to help balance out the muscles in his legs.
 
Walsh
            Did you find resistance from coaches during Little League?
 
Pat Sr.
            Actually we didn’t. Pat was hitting both ways and pitching both ways. He was very fluid with both arms, so we just kept it up. We were working on his ability to throw the football ambidextrously to help strengthen his shoulder muscles. The thing is, we let a few of these disciplines lapse after eighth grade. Now that we are working with Mike we are utilizing his recipe. He really has a lot of knowledge that we are incorporating into Pat’s workouts.
 
Walsh
            What has Lavery encouraged Pat to work on?
 
Pat Sr.
             For starters, Pat has begun to play the violin again. He’s actually quite proficient at it, as well as with the trumpet. Our family has always been into music and theater.  It’s nice to see him pick it up again.  Mike has Pat interested in harnessing the potential of the right brain and he suggested improving the ability to write in cursive format with either hand and also in the Da Vinci mirror-image style. What he tells Pat is that it helps wire the subconscious layer of the brains motor skill areas. I would have to say that Mike is a real pioneer in the field of training ambidextrous athletes. Of all the people that have ever given us advice as to help further this dual handed pitching ability he has the most in-depth knowledge, possibly in the whole country.
 
Walsh
            I understand that Pat has been working with Mike for about six weeks. What kind of results are you and your son seeing?
 
Pat Sr.
            Pat says that his wrists are getting stronger as well as his forearms. He’s doing the four pound sledge hammer drills with a baseball, bouncing from one hammer to the other. His grip strength is already improving. I assume that with greater hand strength my son could put more spin on the ball with both the curve and the slider. We recently played long catch and I can see more accuracy with the throwing from each side. Pat claims that in his last four outings in the bull pen he’s been very sharp with his control. Mike’s designed a program for him that includes memory drills, math skills, coding of the alphabet, and doing drawing and poetry to improve his brain’s function in the right hemisphere.
 
Walsh
            Have you been running into any resistance from baseball experts who think that because Pat is obviously throwing harder as a right-hander that he should give up his left-handed side?
           
Pat Sr.
            It’s interesting that you would ask that. We were at a minor league game here in Omaha and during a rain delay we were up in the press box. A scout was talking about these pitchers like Pat that throw both ways. He says that usually around 17 or 18 years of age they select the stronger side and let the other side go. I thought to myself, there’s no way that’s going to happen with Pat. He’s motivated and he’s got a great slider from the left side. I still catch on a men’s senior baseball team and we go to the Nationals every year. I’ve caught many a pitcher in my day, even former pro’s that could still bring it in the 90’s. I can tell you that Pat’s got one of the quickest breaking sliders I’ve ever seen.
 
Walsh
            What kind of comments do you hear when you see your son pitch? And how many inquires do you get from the media and people who have children that also have this ambidextrous pitching potential?
 
Pat Sr.
            Mostly people are kind of in awe because it’s so rare and Pat makes such a smooth transition with the Louisville Slugger glove. He had a stretch last year where he went 43 scoreless innings in a row of relief pitching. I believe it’s a Creighton University record.  More and more people are becoming interested in seeing him pitch.  Plus his coaches have been very supportive and they realize that they have a - not so - secret weapon. We get about 60 calls a year. Probably about 10 are from the media and the rest are from interested parents. The parents want to know about any ideas that I might be able to give them and where they can get the Louisville Slugger glove. I actually designed the glove that Pat uses. Recently I got a call from a David McClaskey from St. Louis. His grandson Nick Bohannan is only ten years old and he’s already showing fantastic promise at pitching ambidextrously. I understand that these folks are already in touch with Mike.
 
Walsh
            So if Pat continues to improve and gets drafted to play professional baseball, do you think that it will inspire others to follow with this concept?
 
Pat Sr.
            Hopefully we will see Pat develop more velocity from the left side. Three to four more mph would be fantastic. These methods that Mike is inspiring us with should show results for Pat as it has with other people that he’s worked with. And as far as the fact that we are only scratching the surface of how the brain can be harnessed it’s quite possible that many will embrace the idea that ambidexterity can be learned. Mike has made me aware of Billy Warner who broke his natural right hand throwing arm twice as a kid and he went on to throw in the Major Leagues as a lefty. He has a modern record for relief pitchers of throwing more 100 plus mph fastballs than any other player. If there’s a will, then there’s a way. Heck, if science could prove that these whole brain power methods work and enlarges brain features it could be the beginning of a revolution. I would expect to see teams implementing these ideas and just maybe in 10 to 15 years it could be common to see professional teams with ambidextrous pitchers on their rosters. Maybe these ideas will spill into football so that we will see ambidextrous quarterbacks. Now that would be something to see.
 
Walsh
            Well Pat, I appreciate your taking time to do this interview. I look forward to following your son’s baseball career.
 
Pat Sr.
            It’s been my pleasure Greg. We’re excited about working with Mike and watching how his methodologies can be integrated into the enhancement of Pat’s ambidextrous pitching.  
 
Walsh
            Thanks once again.