The 10 Best Out-of-Position Moments in Sports

Since we're on the subject of pitching, I thought I would start off with my favorite non-pitcher of all time: Jose Canseco.

While on the Rangers in 1993, Canseco came in to pitch one inning. Three walks, two hits, and three earned runs later, he was done. And that was the end of Canseco's pitching career...or so we thought.

Somehow, a career ERA of 27.00 didn't dissuade Canseco from trying to make a comeback 13 years later in the minor leagues as—get this—a knuckleball pitcher.

His control issues had obviously not cleared up. Over four and a third innings, he hit four batters and walked another five. He did manage to strike out one poor, unfortunate soul, though.

Maybe that will encourage him to try again in another 13 years.

When Mike Vrabel takes time off from hitting people at linebacker to line up with the offense, you better keep an eye on him.

He has eight career receptions...and eight career receiving touchdowns.

I would call that a pretty decent rate. He certainly doesn't get far, though. Even with eight receptions, he only has 11 career receiving yards.

Chad Johnson, I mean, Chad Ochocinco is a clown, plain and simple. From his ridiculous attempts at a catchphrase (Child please; It's time to kiss the baby) to his obsession with somehow tweeting during games, it seems like everything he does is a ploy for attention.

So when he lined up as the kicker in a preseason game against New England, everyone assumed it was just a joke. They were wrong.

Chad split the uprights with authority. Even better, with the final score being 7-6 in favor of the Bengals, that extra-point ended up being the difference in the game.

In the 1980 NBA Finals, the Lakers' Hall of Fame center, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, went out with an ankle injury in Game 5. So with a chance to win it all in Game 6, L.A. turned to their rookie point guard to play center.

What followed was one of the greatest Finals performances in history. Johnson scored 42 points and chipped in 15 rebounds and 7 assists as the Lakers took home the championship.

I'm not sure we'll ever see anything like that ever again.

Bill Belichick always seems to have something up his sleeve. First there was his use of Vrabel, then he trotted out quarterback Doug Flutie for the extra point against the Dolphins.

Only, there was no holder. Flutie caught the ball and, to everyone's surprise, dropped it on the ground and then kicked it through the uprights. The first successful drop kick in the NFL in 64 years.

And for one of the trickiest quarterbacks in history, it was a fitting cherry on top to the end of his career.

When pitchers generally come up to bat, most of the time you just hope they don't hit into a double play. You never actually want the pitcher to have to hit.

Somebody tell that to the Cubs. This season they have actually used their star pitcher, Carlos Zambrano, as a pinch hitter.

That's right, they have brought out a pitcher to replace another batter. They may have been risking his health a bit, but it just goes to show, if you have a big boy on your team who can swing the bat...let him loose.

In football, sometimes teams will act like they are going to go for it on fourth down, but then their quarterback will pooch punt it and hope to pin the opposing team. They don't really ask a lot from their quarterback other than to not screw it up too much.

When Brady Quinn was a senior for Notre Dame, he certainly didn't need to be told that. He punted just one time that year, but it was a booming, 48-yard punt. That punt allowed him to—wait for it—lead the nation in punting average.

With that kind of multi-talented ability, I have no idea how he slipped down the draft that next year.

Although LDT hasn't lined up behind center as far as I know, he's thrown enough passes for his career that I think he belongs on this list. And when he throws it, he throws it well.

This is no Mike Vrabel, one yard line toss. Tomlinson averages 13 yards per attempt. He is 8-11 in his career with seven touchdowns and a 154.4 passer rating. That would eclipse Steve Young's career record of 96.8.

Must be the visor.

Cal Ripken Jr. was one of the greatest, if not the greatest shortstops of all time. So when the Orioles asked him to move to third in 1996, he could have told them to shove it and been totally justified.

However, Ripken took one for the team and moved over to third and ended up playing there for five seasons before he retired and even went to the All-Star game each year.

This list would not be complete without The Fridge.

During his rookie season, the big defensive lineman would occasionally line up as a halfback on short yardage situations. He even managed to score two touchdowns, including one in Super Bowl XX.

My favorite part about the Super Bowl touchdown was the play before. Perry got tackled for a loss while attempting his first pass on an option play. If there's one thing funnier than The Fridge scoring a touchdown, it's him trying to throw a pass.