From: nss3@kimbark.uchicago.edu (Noel Steere)
Subject: Re: why righty-righty match-up?
Reply-To: nss3@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Distribution: rec.sport.baseball
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 05:23:18 GMT

In article <359tv+_@rpi.edu> ruthd@aix.rpi.edu (Davis Paul Ruth) writes:
>silber@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Ami A. Silberman) writes:

>>Right handed batters hit better against left handed pitchers, left handed
>>batters better against right handed pitchers.  Switch hitters generaly hit
>>best when batting from their natural side.  (Nearly all switch hitters were
>
>This is true in theory, if half the pop. was lefty there might be more
>truth in it.
>Throughout Little league, and on through the minors, all right handed
>hitters face more right handed pitchers and are used to it thats how
>they got to the majors, by hitting righties.

Hmmm?  Last I checked, Mariano Duncan, Kirby Puckett, Shane Mack, Dave
Winfield, ad. nauseum were in the majors, and with few exceptions
(like Kirby '89), these players hit better against lefties than
righties every season.

True, righty hitters have to solve righty pitchers to some extent, but
not as much as you apparently think.  Why?  Because only 10% of the
population is left-handed, so most teams don't have sinister players
(God, I love to make that pun!:-) to replace all their righty hitters.
If half the population that could hit at a major-league level were
left-handed, and only 10% of the population that could pitch at a
major-league level were left-handed, lefty hitters would be scooped up
even faster than they are now, and that's pretty fast (L/R ratio for
hitters is 1:1, for pitchers it's 1:2 [Note: this is an estimate from
looking at God-knows-how-many Strat cards.  If anyone has the actual
stats, feel free to post them]).

Also, note how most righty hitters start hitting worse against righty
pitchers when they start to decline, but continue to hit lefties
pretty well (see Da. Murphy).

>I know when i played baseball there were only 1or2 lefty pitchers in the
>league and it was harder to hit them because it was awkward.

Maybe they were just plain good? 

My personal experience is that when I came off an injury my Junior
year in high school, I ph'ed in a game and faced a lefty sidearmer,
took the first pitch for a ball, and whacked the next one on a line
over the left fielder's head.  If my ankle had been completely healed
it would have been at least a triple, but I had to settle for a
double.

If a hitter
>can't hit righties it is unlikely he will get to the major league level.

Gary Gaetti, Jim Rice, Ivan Calderon, Rickey Henderson, Dave Henderson...

Mind you, I'm not saying these players sucked against righties, I'm
just saying that they hit better against lefties.  In other words, I'm
strongly disputing your last statement.

>righty-lefty, lefty-righty  is old baseball mumbo-jumbo and with
>certain players as exceptions is mythical and "playing the percentages"
>is bull. 

(Dialogue between me and a friend, Tim)

TIM:  The Mets lost against the Yankees today in exhibition.

ME:  Who were the starters?

TIM:  It says here that Schourek started for the Mets.

ME:  Schoureck?  No wonder.

TIM:  But he's a lefty. [gives take]

ME: [giggling] Oh, great.  Someone who makes Randy Velarde a power
threat.

TIM: [laughs] It says here that Velarde hit two home runs.


Not proof of my statement, by any means, but amusing nevertheless.

Noel Steere                  |Lookie, lookie!  It's my old .sig file!        
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