Tigers' Ausmus says Romine will play all 9 positions in season finale

Brad Ausmus is on his way out as manager of the Detroit Tigers - and he's going to make sure his team has some fun before he leaves.

Ausmus announced to Jason Beck of MLB.com on Wednesday that "barring something strange," utility man Andrew Romine will become only the fifth player in MLB history to play all nine positions in one game in Detroit's season finale at Minnesota this coming Sunday.

The possibility of Romine playing every position was first brought up by Ausmus earlier this month. The manager said at the time he wanted it to happen against a fellow non-contender rather than versus the Twins, but with Minnesota expected to clinch the second AL wild-card spot as early as Wednesday, it's likely the finale won't mean anything for either side.

Romine, a shortstop by trade, has appeared in 119 games for the Tigers this season, with at least one appearance at every position but catcher - the only position he's never played during his professional career. He's made over 20 appearances at second base (25), center field (22), first base (21), and third base (21) this year, and made his fourth career mound appearance in July when he tossed two-thirds of an inning and didn't allow a run.

Assuming Ausmus follows through on Sunday, the 31-year-old Romine will join Bert Campaneris (1965), Cesar Tovar (1968), Scott Sheldon (2000), and Shane Halter (2000) as the only five men to have played every position in the same nine-inning game.

In some incredible twists of coincidence, Romine is now scheduled to play all nine positions exactly 17 years to the day that Halter played every position for the Tigers on Oct. 1, 2000, also against the Twins. And the Tigers' starting catcher for Halter's multi-positional performance 17 years ago was none other than Ausmus, who went 1-for-4 in that game and ended up playing four positions (catcher, third, second, first) himself as part of the defensive maneuvering that moved Halter around the diamond.