Southpaws???

Question

Hey guys, I know that the baseball term "southpaw" means a left throwing pitcher. But my question is that where did this unusual name come from?? Are there any truth or myths out there to this term's origin or how it came around??

Thanks.

Answer 1

The reason a lefty is called a "southpaw" is that most basebal fields are aligned with home plate being to the west. When the pitcher is facing home plate a lefthander's pitching arm is to the south. At least that is how diamonds were arranged in the real old days(look at Wrigley Field). I believe that had to do with games being played in the day so then the sun wasn't in the batter's eyes as the game game got later. Come on 30% in baseball puts you in the Hall Of Fame(.300 Batting Average)

Answer 2

There are not many left handed people around in the world compared to right handed people, so the term "southpaw" means something rare and unusual. One myth I heard was from a Korean guy who said that some Koreans back in the old days thought left handed people were cursed because they were different. Because of this, children who was born left handed was forced to do everything right handed to break the habit. This Korean guy knew this because he was born left handed but uses his right handed all the time because his parents forced him.

Answer 3

Ball fields traditionally are laid out with right field as the "sun field" -- where the late afternoon sun shines. This is intended to help the batter, facing away from the sun. As a side effect of this, the mound likewise faces generally west or southwest, putting the pitcher with his right hand to the north and his left hand to the south.

Ergo, southpaw.

The obvious complementary term "northpaw" never caught on, but it doesn't have the same phonetic melody to it.