Since moving to the United States i’ve become a real baseball fan. I’ve also developed a love for playing softball, and i currently play in two leagues—a very casual intramural grad student league, and a somewhat more serious city-run league here in Baltimore.
Because both of these leagues are pretty casual, none of us really have assigned positions. I’m captain/organizer of my intramural team, and i like to play myself at shortstop or third base, partly because i enjoy it, and partly because i think i’m one of the best infielders on our team. In my city league team, i’ve played everywhere from outfield to all four infield positions.
One thing i came to realize, after playing for a while and also after watching Major League Baseball, is that, as a left-handed thrower, i’m really at a natural disadvantage playing second base, third base, or shortstop.
At third, if a ball is hit to my left and i make the play, the throw over to first is pretty straightforward. But if the ball is hit down the line, to my right, it’s very hard to make the play and then get my body in the right position to make the long throw over to first.
At shortstop, if the ball is hit up the middle, being left-handed can actually be an advantage, because i can field the ball and throw to first on the run without having to swivel my body back to make the throw. But if the ball is hit to my right, “in the hole,” it is again difficult to make the grab, turn, and throw in time to get the runner at first (or second).
And at second base, almost any play requires me to swivel my body through about 180 degrees in order to throw to first.
Basically, in all these fielding positions, a right-handed thrower is much more likely to be in a natural position to make the throw after fielding the ball.
Having slowly come to this realization over my first year or so in the US, i looked for left-handed throwers on MLB teams, and so far haven’t found any in the positions that i mentioned. Also, while i haven’t really discussed catchers, it strikes me that they are also better off being right-handed, as it makes the first base pick-off easier.
So, what i’m wondering is whether any Major League second basemen, shortstops, or third basemen have been left-handed throwers? Does the dominance of right-handers go all the way back to the start of the professional game, or has it evolved over time?