Earlier this week, the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtanti hurled five innings of no-hit ball against the Phillies before he left the mound and resumed his role as a designated hitter.

Ohtani walked one and struck out five over 68 pitches. When he returned as a DH, Ohtani hit his 50th homer of the season. As a result, he became the only player to have 50 pitches and 50 homers in a season.

If you’re a Dodgers’ fan, you’ll likely see more of Ohtani on the mound in the postseason.

Yet, it’s easy to classify him as a baseball oddity, one we haven’t seen in a while.

In this week’s version of my Yesterday column — reminiscing about sports and pop culture from the 1960s, 70s, 80s and sometimes before and beyond — I’ll reflect back on some position players who pitched, and some of the oddities in baseball and pop culture.

Also, do any of these jar a memory? Who was the former Phillie who played all nine positions in a game? Who was the former Yankee outfielder who pitched more than two innings of relief in a 1968 comeback victory? What gimmick did Bill Veeck bring to baseball in 1951? Who was El Olympico? And what manager attacked the Phillie Phanatic?

Plenty of Examples ... According to baseball-reference.com, there have been 951 position players over the years who have taken the mound, mainly for an inning.

As far as ex-Phillies, there’s Aaron Altherr, Mike Anderson, Jeff Francoeur, Greg Gross, Granny Hamner, Tommy Hutton, Dane Iorg, Tomas Perez, Desi Relaford, Cookie Rojas, John Russell and Wilson Valdez.

Some players you may recognize who logged some innings were Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Matty Alou, Sal Bando, Larry Bittner, Wade Boggs, Jose Canseco, Rick Cerone, Dave Concepcion, Vic Davalillo, Chili Davis and Jose Reyes.

Play All Nine ... Several players and utilitymen have pitched in the context of another baseball anomaly, playing all nine defensive positions in a single game.

They were former A’s shortstop Bert Campanaris on Sept. 8, 1964; former utilityman and one-time Phillie Cesar Tovar (Sept. 22, 1968); former A’s and Rangers utilityman Scott Sheldon (Sept. 6, 2000); former Tigers, Royals, Angels and Mets utilityman Shane Helter (Oct. 1, 2000); and former Tigers, Angels, Mariners, Cubs, and Rangers outfielder Andrew Romine (Sept. 30, 2017).

What’s That Name? ... In the 1970s and beyond, there were some players who became memorable for their peculiar first, nickname, and last names. You may have forgotten some of these, but see how many you can recall.

There was the Phillies’ Arnold “Bake” McBride, Texas’ Bill Gogolewski, the White Sox’s Skip (Lee) Pitlock, Washington Senators’ Dick Such, Cleveland’s Gomer Hodge, the Dodgers’ Burt Hooten, Pittsburgh’s Rimp (Lorenzo) Lanier, Pittsburgh’s Richie Zisk, Minnesota’s Bucky (Charles) Guth, Houston’s Skip (Alfred) Jutze, the Cubs’ Pete LaCock, Atlanta’s Rowland Office, Atlanta’s Wenty (Percival) Ford, Boston’s Dick Pole, Atlanta’s Craig Skok, the Mets’ Craig Swan and George Theodore, the Phillies’ Sixto Lezcano and Dave Downs, St. Louis’ Mike Tyson, the White Sox’s Nyls Nyman, and the Tigers’ John Wockenfuss.

You can also add Oakland’s Eric Plunk, the Yankees’ Kevin Mmahat (Mama-hat), Detroit’s Rusty Kuntz, Oakland’s Coco Crisp, and Seattle’s Charlie Furbush.

Rocky’s Road ... If you’re a longtime Yankees’ fan, you may remember Rocky Colavito, who pitched 2.2 innings from his outfield position against Cleveland on Aug. 25, 1968.

Colavito, a Reading native, allowed one hit, struck out one and walked two. He entered the game with the Yanks down, 5-1, but hit a homer and scored the winning run in a 6-5 comeback victory.

Small World ... Some of you graybeards may have a flashback on this one.

Back in 1951, then St. Louis Browns’ and later White Sox’s owner Bill Veeck shocked the baseball world when he signed midget three-foot-seven Eddie Gaedel to a contract.

He appeared in a game and drew a four-pitch walk. Gaedel was replaced by a pinch-runner, and never appeared in a game again. The following day, American League president William Harridge banned Gaedel from the game for life.

Seeing Red ... In 1981, both the Reds and the Cardinals has the two best overall records in the National League during the split season. Neither of them made the postseason, and they both finished second in the first and second half of the season.

The Reds were 66-42 overall (35-21 first half, and 31-21 second half), and the Cardinals were 59-43 overall (30-20, 29-23).

Cincinnati’s Tom Seaver led the league in wins with his 14-2, 2.54 line.

The Phillies finished first in the first half, but lost the NLCS in five games to the Expos. Mike Schmidt was the NL MVP, as he led the league in homers (31), RBIs (91), walks (73), runs scored (78), total bases (228), OBP (.435), slugging (.644), and OPS (1.080).

Charlie O ... One of the most eccentric and arguably odd baseball owners was the A’s Charlie Finley.

He definitely changed the landscape of the game in the early 70s, and guided one of the game’s most colorful dynasties.

An astute businessman, Finley was looking for a way to raise revenue and increase offense in the game. He introduced the A’s classic yellow and green uniforms, ballgirls, and was partly responsible for the designated hitter, playoff night games and those starting on weekends.

He tried to institute three-ball walks, and does anyone remember the thought of orange baseballs?

Finley was often depicted as a miserly owner, but he gave the game a lift when it was needed.

Yesterday’s Heroes ... On Sept. 17, 1965, “Hogan’s Heroes” debuted on CBS. It was an oddity in its own way, as Colonel Hogan’s group of espionage agents always managed to outmaneuver the Germans and destroyed one of their outlets. It seemed just too easy for Hogan’s band to outfox the Germans.

Still, the storyline was pretty cohesive, and the characters blended well together. Bob Crane, who played Hogan, was brilliantly cast with his timely sarcasm.

Werner Klemperer as Colonel Klink, and John Banner as Sergeant Schultz, also filled their roles perfectly, and the slapstick comedy was priceless.

The series ended abruptly in 1971 when TV did a U-turn to shelve family-based humor with today’s issues.

I’ve seen the episodes plenty of times, and they are still worth watching. If your interested, the show is on weeknights on ME-TV, a network for classic shows from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.

Those Afternoon Shadows ... How many of you remember the afternoon horror soap opera “Dark Shadows” that aired on Channel 6 at 3:30 p.m. from June 27, 1966 until April 2, 1971, airing 1,225 episodes.

It was an oddity during its time, and served as a groundbreaking show.

The show was ABC’s top-rated soap opera in 1969, and vampire Barnabas Collins became a household name among pre-teens. There were plenty of items on the market with vampire fangs and a Dark Shadows game (I had the game).

Along with Barnabas Collins, the show featured a Frankenstein-like monster — ironically named Adam and eventually had a female version named Eve — witches, warlocks, psychics, and werewolves.

I was a loyal watcher, and there were plenty of times when I was scared. Those who watched the show faithfully likely were too.

Those who were a diehard Shadows fan may recall the moves, “House of Dark Shadows,” and “Night of Dark Shadows” that were in theaters.

Charlie Angels’ star Kate Jackson got her start in the series.

Did You Grab Your Burger? ... Thursday was National Cheeseburger Day, and McDonald’s offered a double cheeseburger for 50 cents. Burger King had a bacon cheeseburger free with a dollar purchase.

It began on June 2, 2011 at the Alameda County Fair in California by Juicy’s, a Texas-based hamburger chain. They created a giant burger that weighed 272 pounds, with 50 pounds of cheese and contained an estimated 1.375 million calories.

WWWF/WWE Wrap ... Each column, I’ll review the ring career of a former pro wrestler from our youth.

Do you remember El Olympico? Born Joaquin Rivera in El Salvador, he was a masked wrestler who eventually used an open-faced mask, debuting in 1961.

El Olympico primarily wrestled in the WWWF until 1980, and was a tag-team partner with Chief Jay Strongbow who often had their battles and title matches with Mr. Fuji and Professor Taru Tanaka. El Olympico also paired with Sonny King.

In 1969-70, he formed half of the Spoiler One and Spoiler Two team that worked in the NWA.

Known for his dropkick, El Olympico compiled an overall 106-147-58 slate from 1961-80.

He passed away at age 87 in 2023.

Memory Lane ... Each week, I’ll look back at a former player, coach, manager or media personality from our yesterday.

In keeping with the theme of this column, do you remember when Dodgers’ manager Tommy Lasorda tackled the Phillie Phanatic? It was a 1988 game when the Phanatic began attacking a Dodger doll with Lasorda’s No. 2, punching and stomping the doll between innings.

Lasorda emerged from the dugout, slowly walked toward the Phanatic, and then began chasing him. Lasorda knocked the Phanatic down, grabbed the doll, and returned to the Dodgers’ dugout.

Your comments are always welcomed; email them to tnsports@tnonline.com