How Baseball is Rigged for Lefties

[bigshoulders]

In the general public, about 10 percent of people are left-handed. In Major League Baseball, about 25 percent of players are lefties. Any serious fan knows some of the reasons why certain positions favor lefties, but David Peters has come up with a laundry list of reasons to explain this anomaly.

 

Peters is an aircraft engineer and professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and a devoted Cardinal

[caliber66]

Fielding: First base and right field favor lefies. The favorable angles lefties allow them to throw the ball more quickly across the diamond to second, third and home.

 

Not catching on: One position a lefty rarely plays is catcher; it is difficult for a southpaw catcher to throw over so many right-hand batters.

 

[source]

Every infield position other than first base strongly favors right handed players.

[uncool2pillow]

I don't know enough about the subject, but reading the original post and caliber66's reply makes me think it's probably a wash. The topic reminds me of one of the best baseball books I've ever read: Tragedy and Triumph in Mudville by Stephen J.400 ay Gould. A great essay about the nearly statistical impossibility of another .400 hitter.

 

[mfwahl]

Some batters don

[Good Old Neon]

I read the title and thought it was in reference to some sort of new fangled right wing "left wing" conspiracy theory.

[caliber66]

Switch hitters switch because it's easier to track the ball when it's thrown by an opposite-handed pitcher.

[Guest Jules]

I don't get this. Wouldn't it be the other way around. Isn't that the whole point of sliders and cutters and how managers run the bullpen and why switch hitters switch?

No and no.

 

Switch hitters switch because it's easier to track the ball when it's thrown by an opposite-handed pitcher.

Yes.

[mfwahl]

Switch hitters switch because it's easier to track the ball when it's thrown by an opposite-handed pitcher.

Well, not the whole reason but I mean it's one of the reasons. You'd much rather have a ball curve in then away. It just doesn't make sense that a lefty's pitch is "purportedly" going to go the opposite direction than natural because the lefty learned to write in a right hander's world.

[Guest Jules]

Well, not the whole reason but I mean it's one of the reasons. You'd much rather have a ball curve in then away. It just doesn't make sense that a lefty's pitch is "purportedly" going to go the opposite direction than natural because the lefty learned to write in a right hander's world.

It makes sense because it's true.

[cryptique]

I don't know about now, but when I was a kid it was virtually impossible to find a left-handed catcher's mitt.

 

Off the top of my head, the only such mitt I've ever even seen belonged to Mike Squires, who played a couple of innings as catcher for the White Sox long ago.

 

I think the point about "getting going" is wrong. Yes, a right-handed batter is swinging across his body and his arms are moving away from first base at the conclusion of his swing, but if he's in a solid stance, his lower body doesn't turn away from first base very much, and it seems to me that he's actually in a somewhat better position to run because he has to turn less to get started up the line. Yes, he's slightly further away from the base, but only by a couple of feet, and less if he's nearer to the front of the box than the average left-handed batter.

 

It also seems to me that a righty has a slight advantage when bunting, because he can get more of a head start before he makes contact with the ball.

 

As for pitchers holding runners on first, I would agree that runners probably take the chance less often with a lefty on the mound -- but I would guess that the most effective pickoff moves belong to right-handed pitchers. It's easier to get velocity on a throw to first when you've spun around.

[suites]

Some of that is true but some of it is just not accurate.

 

A agree that it is an advantage to be a lefty hitter and pitcher but the rest is good to be right handed.

 

I could never play any infield positions because I was a lefty and I was too short for 1st base.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

but I would guess that the most effective pickoff moves belong to right-handed pitchers.

I'll take that bet.

[cryptique]

I'll take that bet.

It wasn't a bet, but I would love to see some stats on this. Just going from my own memory, I've seen a heck of a lot more pickoffs by righties than lefties.

[ZenLunatic]

Those are all reasons why it can be beneficial to be a lefty and any good baseball fan already knows those reasons, nothing new. Its why lefty pitchers, hitters, and first basemen are nice to have on your team. Given all that, you still have to have tons of talent. There are many lefties that suck.

 

I cant wait till something like this gets in the majors.

Switch Pitcher

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

It wasn't a bet, but I would love to see some stats on this. Just going from my own memory, I've seen a heck of a lot more pickoffs by righties than lefties.

Ok...I'll take that guess...I mean...the opposite!

 

I hardly ever see righties pick off runners. I usually see lefties like Buerhle and Danks do it, because they can rely on deception. The spin puts a lot on the ball, but isn't deceptive. I know that Kenny Rogers is the all time leader in the category. Number 2 and 3 are both also lefties.

[ZenLunatic]

It wasn't a bet, but I would love to see some stats on this. Just going from my own memory, I've seen a heck of a lot more pickoffs by righties than lefties.

 

Number of pickoff made wont tell the story, maybe percentage wise it can say something. In any case, a slight advantage like that doesnt mean much just like for baserunning to first. Yes there is a slight advantage, but it is so slight that I wouldnt even count it. Only in hitting would I say there is a some sort of advantage.

[mfwahl]

I cant wait till something like this gets in the majors.

Switch Pitcher

That might be the end of baseball

[cryptique]

Ok...I'll take that guess...I mean...the opposite!

 

I hardly ever see righties pick off runners. I usually see lefties like Buerhle and Danks do it, because they can rely on deception. The spin puts a lot on the ball, but isn't deceptive. I know that Kenny Rogers is the all time leader in the category. Number 2 and 3 are both also lefties.

You're right about lefties ... that just shows that I can't assume anything about a statistic based on my personal observation.

 

However, Kenny Rogers is only tied for 30th on the all-time list.

 

The top 11 on the list are all left-handed. Jamey Wright (tied for 12th) is the top right-hander.

 

It's amazing how many of the pitchers on that list are still active. Makes it seem like pickoffs weren't much of an art until recently. I wonder, though, how far back the stats go -- maybe they didn't bother to record them before the last few decades?

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

Something's up with that list. Anyway, the stats for that weren't kept until 1974, so it's going to have a bias.

 

http://www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb

[MrRain422]

Yeah, that list isn't right. Rogers has like 93 or something, Langston 92, Mussine 84, something like that.

[Guest Cousin Tupelo]

Every infield position other than first base strongly favors right handed players.

I played second base as a lefty for a while and essentially you had to add a step to position yourself for any throw's to first -- plus, unless you practiced with the shortstop enough, it was harder than hell to get any sort of rhythm for a DP.

[cryptique]

Something's up with that list. Anyway, the stats for that weren't kept until 1974, so it's going to have a bias.

Yeah, clearly that list is messed up. I wonder if MLB.com only has stats going back so far. Rogers has been around so long, maybe his earlier pickoffs were before that cutoff.

[Lammycat]

I cant wait till something like this gets in the majors.

Switch Pitcher

Wow. I've often joked about (and dreamed of) this very thing....

[Guest Cousin Tupelo]

I think the point about "getting going" is wrong. Yes, a right-handed batter is swinging across his body and his arms are moving away from first base at the conclusion of his swing, but if he's in a solid stance, his lower body doesn't turn away from first base very much, and it seems to me that he's actually in a somewhat better position to run because he has to turn less to get started up the line. Yes, he's slightly further away from the base, but only by a couple of feet, and less if he's nearer to the front of the box than the average left-handed batter.

Depending on stance you've already one stride towards first base. Best example is to watch Koske Fukudome. A left handed hitter can give up some power with an open stance but if you have any speed you've got a head start.

[Guest Cousin Tupelo]

Something's up with that list. Anyway, the stats for that weren't kept until 1974, so it's going to have a bias.

 

http://www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb

 

No way of checking this in stats but IMHO, I bet lefties are more susceptible to balk calls on pickoff throws to first because the umpire can argue his leg kick is a movement towards the plate.