Why lefties make great baseball players

Lefties comprise only 10 percent of the world’s population, but among professional baseball players, that number skyrockets to about 25 percent. So why are there more lefties in baseball? Here are 2 reasons: 

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Depth perception When a right-handed pitcher is matched against another right-handed batter, the batter has to look over his shoulder at a ball coming straight at him. This makes it harder for the batter to assess the ball’s speed since the stance minimizes his depth perception. A left-handed batter, however, watches the ball leave from the pitcher’s right hand from a slightly different angle. And that difference gives him more depth perception, giving him the ability to time the hit more accurately.

Base-running momentum This one gives an obvious advantage to the lefties. When a baseball player swings his bat, the momentum of his follow-through turns his torso in the direction his bat is going. If the player is right-handed, his momentum turns him away from home-plate to third base, so he has to change stop his momentum and change his direction to run for first base. 

With a left-handed batter, his momentum turns him directly to first base, so he can use that force to propel him forward, giving him more time to reach the base. Also, lefties stand roughly 1.5 meters closer to first base than where a right-hand batter stands. That gives him about 1/6 of a second advantage, time that is too crucial for baseball. 

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I’m Michale Briese, I’m a Bay Area sports fan attending UC Berkeley. I’m also a budding sports blogger. Visit this link for more info.