rodean@hpfcla.UUCP (08/23/85)
> Two areas where being left-handed can be an advantage: > 1. Baseball - the proportion of major league baseball players who are > left-handed is much higher than the general population, because > left-handed people are often an advantage, especially at 1st base > pitching, and the need for left-handed batters. > 2. Hockey - Normally, a left-handed person is preferred on the > left wing > Bob Schleicher > ihuxk!rs55611 For a while it was believed that left-handed bowlers had a big advantage. The belief was that all the right-handers used up the oil on the lane in the right-handed groove, whereas the small number of lefties had lots of oil to spare. This was in the era of Earl Anthony, Johnny Petraglia, and other very successful lefties. Of course the technology improved, and it all went away. :-) Bruce "a lefty" Rodean {ihnp4|hplabs}!hpfcla!rodean
rcj@burl.UUCP (Curtis Jackson) (08/28/85)
>> Two areas where being left-handed can be an advantage: >> 1. Baseball - the proportion of major league baseball players who are >> left-handed is much higher than the general population, because >> left-handed people are often an advantage, especially at 1st base >> pitching, and the need for left-handed batters. I was under the impression that the real advantage in baseball was cross-dominance -- where a person is left-handed and right-eyed, or vice versa. This allows a batter to keep his eye on the ball all the way to the plate ("stand up to the plate" in a batter's stance and imagine that you are cross-dominant and you'll see what I mean). I believe it is much more common for leftys to have a dominant right eye than it is for the opposite to occur; thence more leftys in baseball. I agree with the advantage of being a left-handed batter if for no other reason than pitchers aren't as used to pitching to them; but it seems to me that first-basemen would be throwing not to home plate (easier for a lefty), but to second and third base (easier for a righty). -- The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3313 (Cornet 291) alias: Curtis Jackson ...![ ihnp4 ulysses cbosgd mgnetp ]!burl!rcj ...![ ihnp4 cbosgd akgua masscomp ]!clyde!rcj
carl@aoa.UUCP (Carl Witthoft) (08/29/85)
In article <834@burl.UUCP> rcj@burl.UUCP (Curtis Jackson) writes: >I was under the impression that the real advantage in baseball was >cross-dominance -- where a person is left-handed and right-eyed, or >vice versa. This allows a batter to keep his eye on the ball all the >way to the plate ("stand up to the plate" in a batter's stance and >imagine that you are cross-dominant and you'll see what I mean). I >believe it is much more common for leftys to have a dominant right >eye than it is for the opposite to occur; thence more leftys in baseball. Anyone who sees the ballwith onlyl one eye wont make it out of little league. EVERY batter turns his head to face the ball for its entire flight. I forget whether I posted my comment on the strong arm leading the swing when you bat from x but throw y. If I did,sorry for this repetition. And of course, when a lefty finishes his swing, he's facing first but a righty is facing third and has that much more trouble running to first. Darwin's Dad (Carl Witthoft) ...!{decvax,linus,ima,ihnp4}!bbncca!aoa!carl @ Adaptive Optics Assoc., 54 Cambridgepark Dr. Cambridge, MA 02140 617-864-0201 "Put me in, Coach. I'm ready to play today. Look at me! I can be centerfield."