The Blue Jays beat reporters received the lineup card for tonight's game against the Houston Astros and saw something peculiar, as can be seen in this Shi Davidi tweet:
#BlueJays lineup vs #Astros with a joke in the seventh and eighth spots? pic.twitter.com/7hRAUDdy4v
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) July 26, 2013
The printed lineup card showed Maicer Izturis batting seventh and at second base ("4") with Brett Lawrie bating eighth playing third ("5"), but then someone appended the numbers in black marker so that beside Izturis it reads "4/5" and beside Lawrie it reads "5/4".
Most of the writers were understandably confused and are suspecting that is a practical joke pulled by manager John Gibbons after all the stories of Lawrie bouncing back and forth between second and third base. Brendan Kennedy asked Luis Rivera about the oddity:
Just asked #bluejays infield coach Luis Rivera what's up with Izturis-Lawrie 4/5 on lineup card. "No idea," he says.
— Brendan Kennedy (@BKennedyStar) July 26, 2013
If Rivera didn't know about the move, it is probably a practical joke, either targeting the beat writers as a whole, or radio guy Mike Wilner who will be broadcasting the entire game while Jerry Howarth travels to Cooperstown.
But if it isn't a joke, maybe we are looking at a situation where Lawrie and Izturis would switch positions depending on the handiness (and I guess spray chart) of each batter, which is something I mentioned that I wanted to see. If you don't know about the Jimy Williams Manoeuvre, take a look at this article from Batter's Box, and scroll down to May 2, 1988. It is so crazy it might just work.
In either case this makes me like Gibby. If it is a joke, then it'll be great. If he does go with the Jimy Williams Manoeuvre, it'll be the greatest.
UPDATE
Awwwwww. Even before we can finish our wild speculations, Mike Wilner updates us with the news that Lawrie will be at third and Izturis at second tonight:
Lawrie will be playing 3b tonight, Izturis 2b. Gibbons said he has no idea who did that to the line-up card. #Bluejays#Jays
— Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness590) July 26, 2013
As expected, the lineup was just a joke on the media. Lawrie is at 3B, Izturis at 2B. "I don't know who did that," Gibbons said with a smile
— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) July 26, 2013