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that Sean made, both offensively and pitching, is very rare." According to a story posted on Oakland's website, A's general manager Billy Beane "joked" that Doolittle was baseball's equivalent of an insurance plan — the point being if he failed as a hitter and first baseman he still could pitch. "We laughed," Doolittle said. "I don't think any of us thought we'd use that plan. I really liked playing every day. That's why I was so excited about being drafted as a hitter. I wasn't even thinking about pitching." But in May 2009 while at Triple-A Sacramento, he tore his left patellar tendon while fielding a grounder in right field. Then, in May 2011, Doolittle tore a tendon in his right wrist during an at-bat. "That's when I was the most discouraged," he said. "I had it written into my contract that I could go back to school if something happened and Major League Baseball would pay for the rest of my education. "I had three-quarters of a degree and I knew with a Virginia degree there was so much I could do. But then I thought, 'I can't see myself doing anything other than playing baseball.'" Doolittle gave hitting one more shot during mid-August. But the wrist hurt so much that he agreed to the A's "suggestion" that he become a full-time pitcher. "I felt I had enough to learn about pitching that it kept me mentally occupied," he said. "I really feel like I found what I was supposed to be doing." In the case of Hultzen, it was a matter of luck that he wound up as a two-way player at Virginia. "We recruited Danny as a pitcher," O'Connor said. "In his recruiting class, the first baseman we recruited was Tyler Massey. He signed a pro contract out of high school and never made it here. "In the fall of Danny's freshman year, we had a void at first base, so we had Danny start hitting in the fall and we found he was a great hitter. So, he hit and played first base. "Sometimes you luck into it," O'Connor continued. "But had Tyler Massey come here, Danny may never have played first base for us. Danny was the John Olerud Award winner as the top two-way player in the country." Hultzen was the second overall pick by Seattle in the 2011 MLB Draft — after being the only three-time baseball All-American in UVa history. "It's just about going out there and playing baseball," Hultzen, who's currently a starting pitcher for Triple-A Tacoma, said in a story posted on the Mariners' website. "I feel a little bit more comfortable this year. It's my second year so I kind of know what to expect. Last year, I didn't know what to expect. "I wasn't sure how things worked in pro baseball and how your body would handle a full year of pro ball. This year, I feel more comfortable knowing what to expect and what a full season is like." Joe Koshansky, who was a lefty pitcher and a first baseman at UVa, was the 2004 ACC Player of the Year — the first Cavalier to earn that honor. He was a sixth-round pick of the Rockies in the 2004 draft and made his major league debut in 2007 as a first baseman. Not surprisingly, he faced the same quandary Doolittle did: Would he prefer to be drafted as a pitcher or a position player? "I told them I just wanted to be drafted as high as possible, and whatever they wanted me to do, I'd do," Koshansky, who's now retired, said in a story that ran in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "Some teams said they wanted me to pitch. Others wanted me to play first. "I would have loved to have gotten out there in a blowout for an inning. But I think the Rockies made the right choice." ◆