Well, they said that they got him for his defense. They just didn't say what position he'd play.

In an odd move, Boston's Gold Glove first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz started at second base tonight. It was only his second major-league at second and his first start there in 2185 career games. Red Sox manager Terry Francona claims that the move is just for tonight given that he wanted to load the lineup with left-handers and the Sox have so many injuries in the infield.

Mientkiewicz got no special treatment. He got into an altercation with Carlos Delgado, who was trying to break up a double play, in the second. He has completed one double play successfully, but his double play partner, Orlando Cabrera, the other defensive replacement that the Sox acquired, has two errors on the night.

By the way, Mientkiewicz is only the 36th man to play at least 500 games at first base and at least two at second. Here are the rest. There are some surprises on the list: