Lefty in Left Field?

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Apr 16, 2010
924
43
Alabama
2B is not SS..have there been any All-American lefty SS? Again, SS have the least amount of time to get the ball to 1st base of all the IF. My freshmen year in college I switched from SS, which I had played all my life, to 2B. The difference in what I am speaking about regarding getting the ball out quickly was quite eye-opening.

Lefty 2b I can see working at a high level since while disadvantaged in throwing to first, which is less important at 2B than SS since you have more time to get the ball to 1st, they have an advantage over RH when throwing to 2B on DP. As a RH 2B that was the most difficult thing for me to learn to do correctly and efficiently.

At the NAIA level yes. Amy Nanson in 2006. She was a 3 time All American at 3 different positions LF, 1B, and SS. I am not trying to say it is the ideal spot. I am only saying the right player can make it work.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
At the NAIA level yes. Amy Nanson in 2006. She was a 3 time All American at 3 different positions LF, 1B, and SS. I am not trying to say it is the ideal spot. I am only saying the right player can make it work.

Interesting. Did she start as a SS as a freshmen and then they moved her or the other way around? Plus I guess I should have said Defensive player of the year vs. All American because if you hit .500 with 30 HR you will probably
be an All American regardless...:)

At the lower levels the more talented athletic kid will win out at SS 9 out of 10 times regardless of LH or not. Filtering occurs as the talent level goes up. Look at it this way. I bet that 95% of RH ML IF (2B,SS,3B) played SS in LL, maybe 75% played SS in HS, 30-50% played SS in college and maybe 10-20% played SS in minors.

Granted I am just starting to follow softball, so maybe the field dimension, differences in speed/strength/athleticism in girls vs boys , etc effect my argument a bit but I don't think they
would impact it enough to make it invalid.
 
Last edited:
Apr 16, 2010
924
43
Alabama
Interesting. Did she start as a SS as a freshmen and then they moved her or the other way around? Plus I guess I should have said Defensive player of the year vs. All American because if you hit .500 with 30 HR you will probably
be an All American regardless...:)

Google did the work for me. Her first time was as a LF then 1B then SS. She actually played for a great team that finished 3rd that season. The article I found said she started out at first but their SS was getting worn out because she also pitched. The coach held an open competition with all the infielders to replace her and the lefty beat everyone out.

I was surprised when I looked that Don Mattingly and Terry Francona both played a few games at 3B in the majors as lefties. Mattingly actually started a 5-4-3 double play on his first fielding opportunity at 3b.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Google did the work for me. Her first time was as a LF then 1B then SS. She actually played for a great team that finished 3rd that season. The article I found said she started out at first but their SS was getting worn out because she also pitched. The coach held an open competition with all the infielders to replace her and the lefty beat everyone out.

I was surprised when I looked that Don Mattingly and Terry Francona both played a few games at 3B in the majors as lefties. Mattingly actually started a 5-4-3 double play on his first fielding opportunity at 3b.

I remember Mattingly doing that..can't say I remember how important the game was though ;)
 
Oct 19, 2009
1,822
0
Had a kid that played for me for years from 6 YO to 18 YO thru travel ball and she was a lefty, she played first and ever position in the out field and did well, she had a few scholarships offered, decided to go to the Air Force and she is currently station in Germany.

I've seen HS lefties playing in almost ever position without any problems, one had a 3rd baseman, who also played for me as an outfielder and she played a solid 3rd base for her HS team.
 

Greenmonsters

Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Feb 21, 2009
6,165
38
New England
Interesting. Did she start as a SS as a freshmen and then they moved her or the other way around? Plus I guess I should have said Defensive player of the year vs. All American because if you hit .500 with 30 HR you will probably
be an All American regardless...:)

At the lower levels the more talented athletic kid will win out at SS 9 out of 10 times regardless of LH or not. Filtering occurs as the talent level goes up. Look at it this way. I bet that 95% of RH ML IF (2B,SS,3B) played SS in LL, maybe 75% played SS in HS, 30-50% played SS in college and maybe 10-20% played SS in minors.

Granted I am just starting to follow softball, so maybe the field dimension, differences in speed/strength/athleticism in girls vs boys , etc effect my argument a bit but I don't think they
would impact it enough to make it invalid.

The starting infield for Japan's Olympic gold medal softball team consisted of four SS!
 
Aug 29, 2011
2,584
83
NorCal
The starting infield for Japan's Olympic gold medal softball team consisted of four SS!

Without checking I'd guess the CF and possibly LF were also SS.

This year at the World Baseball Classic the Netherlands had 4 MLB SS on their roster all from the tiny Island of Curacao (though none were left handed).
 

ian

Jun 11, 2015
1,175
48
Curcao water front is beautiful. Dutch architecture in a Caribbean setting.
 

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