Reds minor leaguer plays all 9 positions on final day of season

What could have been a day off for veteran shortstop Ray Chang turned into one of the highlights of his career.

Prior to Monday's season finale against the Mobile BayBears, Pensacola Blue Wahoos manager Pat Kelly made Chang an offer he couldn't refuse.

"He asked if I wanted a day off or I wanted to play all nine positions," Chang told the Pensacola News Journal. "That was an easy answer for me."

(Courtesy: MiLB.com)

Chang, 32, proceeded to do his best Will Ferrell impression, starting the game at first base and moving his way around the infield before playing the outfield in the seventh, catching in the eighth, and pitching in the ninth to close out the Blue Wahoos' 4-2 loss.

"It was fun and everything worked out perfectly," Kelly said. "The fan reaction was awesome, especially in that eighth and ninth inning."

Chang, unbelievably, didn't make a play until the eighth inning, when he suited up to catch hard-throwing Pensacola closer Zack Weiss, the league leader in saves.

"Catching (was the hardest) by far," Chang, who had no previous catching experience, told reporters. "The hardest part about it is when the ball's in the strike zone, you know that guy's going to swing, but you have to keep focused on the ball and not the bat coming through the zone."

He threw a clean ninth for the Cincinnati Reds' Double-A affiliate, who clinched their first playoff appearance in the franchise's four-year history on Sunday night.