Toward the end of last week, I watched part of a Cubs game on WGN and witnessed Alfonso Soriano enjoy adventures at his new position of centerfield. As most of you may remember, Soriano came up as a second baseman with the Yankees and moved to the outfield last year while playing for the Nationals. Upon arriving at the Cubs’ spring training camp in Arizona, Soriano learned he would have a new challenge this season: patrolling centerfield at Wrigley. Watching Soriano circle endlessly under several fly balls got me to thinking about several major leaguers in the past that made successful transitions to new positions. Changing positions is not an easy endeavor, particularly at the Major League level. The first player that came to mind is a familiar name to most fans around here: Dale Murphy. Murphy came up with the Braves in 1978 and quickly established himself as an offensive threat. Defense, however, was another matter.

Many of you may not remember that Murphy originally came up to the Braves as a catcher. Donning the so called “Tools of Ignorance” in the minors, Murphy was a decent catcher, but not a great one. Shortly after his arrival in the big leagues, however, Murphy began to exhibit symptoms of a strange malady.

For whatever reasons, Murphy could not make an accurate throw to second base. His futile attempts to gun down would-be base stealers either bounced off the pitcher’s mound or sailed into deep centerfield. Braves’ coaches, as well as then skipper Joe Torre, himself a former catcher, tried to work with Murphy but to no avail. No matter what the experts tried, he only became worse. I recall one game when Murphy, attempting to throw out the speedy Gary Templeton, threw a ball that the Atlanta centerfielder caught on the fly.

Murphy’s bat was too valuable to remove from the lineup, so a solution had to be found. Torre hit upon the idea of moving Murphy to first base. This seemed to work well at first. Murphy played a decent first base, fielding grounders at an acceptable level and holding runners on first with the best of them.

The trouble started, however, when Murphy tried to throw the ball to second base to force out a runner. Rather than the ball sailing into centerfield as it did when Murphy was catching, his wild throws now flew into left field with alarming regularity. I remember a game against the Reds that typified Murphy’s problems. After snaring a hard grounder to his left, Murph wheeled and fired the ball toward second to get the lead runner. The ball bounced twice before hitting the wall in left-center. The lead runner scored and the batter that hit the ball ended up on third.

Keep in mind, there was no designated hitter rule in the National League. What could the Braves do?

Torre then hit upon a brilliant idea. If Murphy can’t control short throws, let him make long ones. Murphy was moved to centerfield and, as they say, the rest is history. He went on to win several gold gloves as a centerfielder and three MVP awards.

Another player that successfully switched positions, several times, was Craig Biggio. Biggio is still playing for the Astros and is, by all accounts, the epitome of a team player. Biggio came up to the Astros in 1989 after a highly successful collegiate career at Seton Hall. Like Murphy, Biggio hit the big leagues as a catcher.

Biggio, unlike Murphy, was a solid backstop and a great handler of pitchers. A rarity for catchers, Biggio possessed great speed and served as the Houston leadoff hitter for many years. Fearing the budding super-star would get hurt behind the plate, the Astros decided to move Biggio to second base.

Biggio made the transition to second without missing a beat. He made the All-Star team as a second sacker several times and was generally regarded as the best second baseman in the league.

After a number of years at second, Houston decided to again capitalize on Biggio’s athletic skills. Biggio was moved to centerfield where he again won a gold glove and made the All-Star team. In 2004, the Astros made a mid-season trade for super-star Carlos Beltran. Because Beltran was a centerfielder, the Astros asked Biggio to move to left. No problem. He performed in left field as well as he had at his other positions. It should be noted that the following year Biggio even spent time at third base.

Now in the twilight of his career, Biggio has come nearly full circle, playing second base again for the Astros.

Both Murphy and Biggio typify the team spirit and athleticism necessary for big time players to make a transition from one demanding position to the other. In both cases, these players were catchers but were talented enough to play anywhere on the diamond.

How will Soriano do in his new digs at Wrigley? Stay tuned.