Whitey's a Lefty...Catcher?

Yes, Whitey is in his right mind. A large percentage of our Presidents have been lefties - great thinkers and philosophers. But there is one thing that Whitey can't quite square with the way the world works. Baseball is righty biased! As a kid growing up, one thing I hated hearing more than "eat your veggies" was,"You’re a lefty? Go to first.”

There were guys I knew in high school that were left-handed with fast, great hands, but they had to play in the outfield. I got The Professor to do a report on the baseball (still to come), and he informed me that they used to run the bases clockwise.

I can think of a few reasons for the change to the current setup, where the bases are run counterclockwise. Americans wanted to be the opposite of England in every way. Thus we run horses, dogs, cars…and the bases in the opposite direction of the English.

Second, and more probable, is that the throws from what would be 2nd, 3rd, and short would be much more difficult for the right-handed player in a clockwise game. I admit those throws would be hard, but there’s one position that really grinds Whitey.

As previously mentioned, Whitey is a southpaw. So why can his ragged arm get looked at in his late 30's as a pitcher but - as one of the most athletic players on his team - couldn't Whitey have been a catcher? No chance. Not even a sniff of The Tools of Ignorance!

The right-handed batter? With more kids switching to the left side to hit righty pitching, this argument may hold less sway. The throw to third? How about that snap throw to first? Can we even consider a left-handed catcher? Not in a sport as biased as baseball.

PROFESSOR'S NOTE:
Statistics from www.baseball-reference.com: (if these are off, they shouldn't be off by much)
2010 in MLB
Right-handed pitchers:  382
Left-handed pitchers:    138

Bats Right:                          610
Bats Left:                            287
Bats Switch:                         87

Whitey and I were discussing this topic after watching the College World Series and seeing, in our opinion, too many right-handed 1st basemen. As a fellow lefty, I feel Whitey’s pain. Unless you’re a pitcher, lefties get the shaft in baseball. I could think of no other sport where there is as much of a bias against being left-handed as there is in baseball.

Lefties have the opportunity to play four of the nine positions, not even receiving consideration at four (2nd, 3rd, short, and catcher). And righties have the opportunity to play all nine – no position is considered exclusively left-handed.