Why are shortstops right handed

Either Hernandez or Pagliarulo was in the lineup for every game the rest of the way. In one of those games he started at first base, moved to third and finished on the mound.

There have been only two others who have actually caught in a major league game since , Dale Long and Benny Distefano , neither of whom started a game there. Long actually got an assist as a catcher …on a dropped third strike. None of the three lefthanded catchers committed an error, although Long and Distefano each had a passed ball. For more about left-handed catchers, see this post from Jack Moore. Fun article! I found out how awkward third base is for a lefty thrower when I played third for my Little League team as a 9-year-old.

Those are some bad memories. In a game later in , McDowell twice intentionally walked Howard leading off an inning. If not, when did the AL adopt the rule? You are right, Tuna, the game in which Frank Howard was intentionally walked twice leading off an inning is the game in which McDowell played first base.

McDowell also intentionally walked Howard a third time in that game! In Hondo went 8-for against McDowell with two doubles, a triple, and three homers.

The first two games McDowell faced Howard in , he hit him with a pitch the first time he came up—both times with two outs and nobody on. Those were also the only times McDowell hit Howard. Guess he remembered I could never understand why there were no regular second baseman who were left-handed. I played 1st-base left-handed and every once in a while would play second base. I developed a method of pivoting for the throw to first that appeared awkward and strange to everyone but resulted in my being in the perfect position to make that throw accurately every time.

What I did was to pivot on my right foot turning my back to home plate and stepping away from first base but, that put me if the perfect place for making a natural throw to first.

The only tricky thing was taking the throw at second from the catcher, short stop or third baseman when a runner was involved because you had your back to the runner and making that pivot to position yourself for throwing to first or tagging out the runner was an art.

If you positioned yourself correctly to take the throw from the catcher, then you glove hand was actually in a better position to make the tag than a right handed player but, for the double play, I actually had to jump away from the base toward the outfield spinning again with my back to home plate to get into position to make the throw to first. That make it easy for the runner to trip me up and break up the play because I really could not see where he was.

Pingback: The forgotten left-handed throwing shortstop « The J. Preston Experience. But there may not be a good reason for lefties not to catch. Curious as to why this is a practical impossibility at the professional level, I did a little research into this, and talked to a friend of mine who played catcher in college. In particular, on any play at the plate, a righty catcher has an automatic advantage because he is catching with his left hand.

Shortstop is second hardest. Then centerfield, third and second base, right field requires stronger throws , and left field. Second Base This is a good position to put a player who is quick, small er , has a good glove but may not be developed in throwing velocity. If there is a right handed batter up, then the 2nd baseman would cover 2nd base. If there is a left handed batter up, then the shortstop would cover 2nd base. So, the 2nd baseman covers 2nd base when a player is trying to steal.

If the batter is left-handed, the opposite occurs. Because of the counterclockwise sequence of bases, left-handed infielders in positions other than pitcher and first base are at a big disadvantage when playing defense. One of the major duties of the second baseman is to assist in double plays. Are there any left-handed throwing position players in the MLB? Despite the disadvantages in some positions, some have theorized that lefties are superior players.

Aerospace engineer David Peters theorized the science behind this in a interview with Newsweek. He went on to explain that left-handed batters have a better range of vision when getting ready to hit and that similar advantages exist for pitchers , too. While there may not be more than one Jack Clements, there are.

From Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to Ty Cobb and Ted Williams, several of the biggest names in baseball showed that there is a place for them, even if it is not behind the plate on defense. Baseball is a game of minutia, and that minutia helps to dictate exactly where the advantages and disadvantages lie out on the field.

The shortstop was created to primarily serve as a cutoff from the outfielders to the infielders. As baseballs became heavier and of higher quality, the shortstop became an infield position, but the name stuck.

As the modern-day game of baseball becomes more advanced, some of the old prototypes of certain positions are coming into question. For example, catcher was always thought to be a defense-first position. Teams were typically willing to sacrifice offensive production from their catcher if he was a high-level defensive player. Now, with more importance than ever placed on power hitting and less emphasis placed on stealing bases, more teams than ever are willing to sacrifice defensive ability for offensive production from their catcher.

The shortstop position, however, has mostly remained the same over recent years when it comes to protype. Very few teams are willing to sacrifice defensive ability at shortstop for offensive prowess. If a shortstop has a lot of offensive potential, but his defense is not up to par, then he is often moved to one of the other infield positions.

With that being said, more shortstops than ever are great hitters as well as great defenders. Several years ago, it was thought that shortstops had to be smaller, quicker players. Cal Ripken Jr. Ripken stood 6 foot 4 inches and displayed an offensive production at the position that had not been seen in a long time. Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Troy Tulowitzki, and a host of others all stood 6 foot 3 or taller helping to break the mold of what shortstops used to be.