On September 8th, 1965, Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City A’s became the first major leaguer to play all nine positions in a game. Campy accomplished the unusual feat, which was prompted by A’s’ owner Charlie Finley, during a 5-3 loss to the California Angels. Usually a shortstop, Campy caught the ninth inning and was knocked from the game after a collision with Ed Kirkpatrick.

I have mentioned here before how much I like Utility Players. My local team, the Twins, currently have a great one in Willi Castro. The ability to play multiple positions at a Major League level is a testament to both a players great athleticism and to their high baseball IQ.

One of the best Utility Players of all time played in the 1960s and 1970s for the Minnesota Twins. In 1968, Cesar Tovar became the second player (after Campaneris) ever to play all nine positions in a Major League game. Like Campaneris, Tovar was far from a novelty act. In his 12 big league seasons, the versatile Venezuelan appeared in 200 or more games at second base, third base and all three outfield spots. Tovar received American League MVP votes in five of those years, finishing as high as seventh.

I still wonder how a team of Utility Players like Campaneris and Tovar would fare over a 162 game schedule. Could they win more games than the 2024 Chicago White Sox?

When I posed this question to the hosts of the podcast Effectively Wild one of the hosts responded to this question by saying, “no” they would not.

I however am sticking to my original answer. “Yes,” they could win more games than the Sox this year.