Ruth in historical replay

[Aardvark]

Whenever I start before he turned 18, he comes in, and stays, as a pitcher. Whenever I start afterwards, he comes in as an outfielder and never pitches. I thought I saw somewhere something about Ruth being coded as a special case?

[Jeff Olsen]

Baseball Mogul is not programmed to allow position players to take the mound. The Babe is loaded as a pitcher if you start in 1919 or earlier; a batter if you start in 1920 or later.

Lefty O'Doul is another example. He left the game in 1923, having a 4.87 era, 49 walks, and 19 Ks over four seasons. He returned as an outfielder in 1928, hitting .319; in '29 he hit a league leading .398.

There are also players who did the reverse but I can't think of any at the moment. "Special case" means the game takes this into account, otherwise these guys would be a pitcher (or batter) no matter when you start.