I was listening to the radio the other day and they were talking about the George Brett pine tar game. What I never heard about that story was that when the league overturned the call and made the Yankees and Royals replay the end of the game, Billy Martin was so angry that he put Ron Guidry in center and Don Mattingly at second base in protest. It was Mattingly's only appearance at second base in his career, which is not surprising considering he was left-handed. That story and the fact that I am left-handed inspired this post. Unlike in the other big sports, being left-handed makes a difference. In basketball, being a lefty might give you a slight/temporary advantage because defenders are used to guarding righties. In football, I remember Ben Graham as the Jets punter and people said his punts were harder to catch because the ball was spinning the other way (the same might be true for passes thrown by lefty quarterbacks). And in hockey, you might want lefties taking faceoffs in the defensive zone on the left side and righties taking faceoffs in the defensive zone on the right side (to prevent drawing the puck back in the direction of the goalie), but lefties can play any position in all of those sports. In baseball, lefties cannot play four of the nine positions. That's a significant disadvantage, but being left-handed can also be an advantage.
Righties can play any position in baseball, but lefties can't play catcher, second base, third base, or shortstop. Great trivia question: Who is the last left-handed fielder to start a game at any of those positions in the Majors? I'll give you the answer at the end of this blog post. The last lefty to play any of those positions for more than an inning was Benny Distefano, who caught six innings over three games in 1989. I have no memory of him. The last lefty to play any of those positions was Mario Valdez, who pinch hit in a game and then played one inning at third base for the White Sox in 1997. No lefty has played second base since Mattingly in 1983. If you google "left handed shortstops," you'll find a list that is surprisingly long and it includes one of the greatest left-handed players of all time, Lou Gehrig. So I did a little more research and the list isn't real. Every player on that list was listed a a shortstop in the lineup, hit in the top of the first inning, and then was replaced in the field in the bottom of the first. This blog post on left handed shortstops is great. The last lefty to actually play shortstop was Hal Chase of the Yankees in 1909. He played one game at short and had no fielding chances. He was also the last lefty with a fielding chance at short. That was in 1905. So it's been 104 years since a lefty played shortstop in the Majors, 30 years since a lefty played second, 24 years since a lefty played catcher, and 16 years since a left played third.
Why can't lefties play these positions? At second base, a lefty would have no chance to take the throw at second and turn the double play. At third, I had trouble thinking of why a lefty couldn't play there. I was thinking a lefty would struggle throwing out runners at first on grounders hit to his right. That's true, but the best reason that a lefty can't play third is fielding the bunt. A lefty would have no chance of throwing a guy out at first on a decent bunt. But why can't a lefty catch or play short? What I remember hearing as the explanation was that it's easier for a right handed catcher to throw to second on a stolen base attempt with a right-handed hitter up. According to the article I linked about Distefano, 44% of hitters today are left-handed. So there are plenty of times when a left-handed catcher would have the advantage throwing to second. And I think the throw to third might be easier for a left-handed catcher with a right-handed batter up, but the lefty might have to step across his body to make that throw, so maybe not. The article also mentioned bunts down the third base line giving a lefty catcher trouble, but I don't know about that. A right-handed catcher has to turn his entire body to make that throw to first. A lefty might have to approach the ball a little differently, but the throw might actually be easier for a lefty. As for short, I think a lefty could play short. Taking the throw at second and turning the double play would probably be easier for the lefty. I think the biggest problem would be on grounders to the right of the shortstop. Those plays would be definitely be difficult, but I think it would be easier for a lefty to play short than second or third.
So anyway, lefties are limited to five of the nine positions, but lefties have their advantages in baseball. My biggest regret in my sports career is not playing baseball longer. If you're a lefty and you can pitch or hit, you can play. I certainly was not the best athlete, but I was probably better at baseball than anything else. I should have kept playing. According to this website, 10% of the general population is left-handed, but 33% of pitchers and 16% of position players are left-handed. The article above said 44% of hitters, I assume that's based on at-bats and not necessarily players. For example, a switch hitter is going to bat left-handed more often than right-handed. And some right-handed fielders do bat left-handed (but aren't switch hitters), so I think all these numbers make sense. So despite the fact that righties can play all nine positions and lefties can only play five, baseball is disproportionately left-handed.
As a lefty, I always root for lefties in baseball. I contend that the five greatest hitters of all time were Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, and Ty Cobb (Other contenders: Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial). Four of those five are left-handed. No coincidence. When I named the starting lineup for the All-Jim Team in my comment after this blog post, my 3-6 hitters were all left-handed (Ruth, Williams, Gehrig, Griffey) and so was my starting pitcher (Sandy Koufax). My favorite player today is Clayton Kershaw. He probably would still be my favorite player if he was right-handed, but I like the fact that he's left-handed.
So yeah, being left-handed in baseball is awesome, even if you can't play four positions. Back to that trivia question: Who is the last left-handed fielder to start a game at catcher, second base, third base, or shortstop in the Majors? The answer is the same as the last lefty to play at second base. Don Mattingly played third base August 29-31, 1986 and started there on August 30 and 31.
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