Moreland’s in a Position to Play Them All : Switch to First Base by Padres Leaves Him Five Down With Four to Go

Sometime before he retires, Keith Moreland wants to play all nine positions on the baseball field in one game.

It could happen--if the Padre veteran ever finds a manager who will go along with the idea. Moreland has the versatility to pull it off.

With his switch from left field to first base this week, Moreland has played regularly at five positions in a major league career that dates to 1979.

When he reached the majors with the Philadelphia Phillies, and early in his six-year stay with the Chicago Cubs, Moreland was a catcher. The Cubs made him a right fielder, then a third baseman. When he was traded to the Padres this year, he became a left fielder, and four days ago, a first baseman.

What next? Probably nothing on a regular basis, but that doesn’t deter Moreland from his goal.

“I’d love to play them all,” Moreland said Friday night. “In Chicago, I tried a couple of times at the end of the season to get them to let me do it.

“Over the years, I’ve asked every one of my managers if I could pitch. I’d say, ‘Anytime you get in a blowout, I’ll get loose and go out there. I’ve got a good slider.’ At least that’s what I’d tell them.

“I’ve played everything at one time or another. I was a pitcher in high school, and I played center field and second base with the Cubs to finish games. I’ve done it all except pitch and play shortstop in the big leagues, and I played a little shortstop in the minors.”

The last major leaguer to play every position in a game was Cesar Tovar of the Minnesota Twins in 1968. Tovar was essentially an infielder.

Obviously, Moreland’s slowness afoot has contributed to his position-hopping. For example, Padre Manager Jack McKeon made a first baseman out of him to put more speed in left field. Moreland switched positions with John Kruk, who isn’t a burner but is faster than Moreland.

“Moreland is a real pro,” McKeon said. “He’ll be the first one to tell you he doesn’t have the greatest speed, but he can swing the bat and knows how to play the game.

“I don’t know why, but he’s better in right field than in left. I’d put him in right if we didn’t have Tony Gwynn.”

Until McKeon made the switch, Moreland’s major league experience at first base consisted of 54 games spread over the past four seasons (1984-87) with the Cubs. He committed 9 errors in 432 chances, a fielding average of .979.

Manager Whitey Herzog of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Padres’ current opponents at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, applauded McKeon’s move.

“First base should be perfect for him,” Herzog said. “I thought he played right field all right in Chicago, and I thought he played third base better than a lot of people thought. Still, he should be more at home at first base.”

Moreland looked very much at home at his new position in the series opener with the Cardinals Friday night. He made an especially good play in the first inning, ranging far to his right to field Willie McGee’s bouncer and throwing to pitcher Andy Hawkins for the out.

Of his glove work in Chicago, Moreland said, “My proudest thing as a defensive player is that I never lost a fly ball in the sun at Wrigley Field (all-star Andre Dawson has lost two there this season). Right field at Wrigley is the toughest sun field in baseball.

“If I had my preference, I’d play third base, which is where I played in college (at Texas) and the minor leagues. I know I made 28 errors last year, but 17 or 18 of them were in the first half of the season.”

How did all of this switching get started?

“When I got to the Phillies, they had a third baseman (Mike Schmidt) who’s still there,” Moreland said. “They asked me if I could catch, and I said I’d try it.

“When I was traded to the Cubs, they had Jody Davis, who was coming along. I caught for a while, but pretty soon I was in right field.”

Moreland’s versatility requires him to carry four gloves--one each for catching, first base, third base and the outfield.”

“That way, I’m ready for anything,” he said.