Only 10 percent of the population is left-handed. Despite a world against us (looking at you notebook spirals), being left-handed has its advantages. One place in particular is on the baseball field.
According to an article in the Japan Times, research by fellow lefty David Peters has finally confirmed the advantage that left-handers have in baseball. Of Hall of Fame pitchers, 21 percent are/were left-handed. Of batters, it was almost half. That's five times as much as the population is left-handed.
Peters' research concluded that the game of baseball is set up to give lefties an advantage. First of all, the base placement. Lefties are 1.5 meters closer to first base, translating to more hits and a higher batting average. Also, lefties' batting placement places them in the natural direction of where they are headed.
Another advantage that lefty batters have is that because most of the population is right-handed, most of the pitchers are right-handed. This allows them to see the ball and throw better than right-handed batters. Finally, left-handed batters typically pull the ball towards right field. Many ballparks have shorter right field distances than left, allowing lefties to accumulate more runs.
For all these reasons, some of the greatest sluggers in baseball history have been left-handed. Here are twenty of them.
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