Re: left and right

In a message dated 4/4/2008 08:36:43 AM Central Daylight Time, 
markjreed@MAIL.COM writes:


> On Fri, Apr 4, 2008 at 8:16 AM, Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> wrote:
> >  ["Southpaw"]  comes from baseball, where the diamond is
> > traditionally positioned  with home plate to the west.
> 
> ...and hence a left-handed *pitcher* (standing in on the mound inside
> the diamond, facing home plate) has his pitching hand to his south.
> 
> The traditional orientation of the diamond, incidentally, is allegedly
> to keep the sun out of batters' eyes, since baseball games are an
> afternoon event rather than a morning one. (Well, more and more since
> the rise of lighted stadiums and prime-time broadcasts, it's a night
> event, but that's another matter entirely.)   Now, of course, that
> means that the sun is in the eyes of the defensive team when they try
> to catch the batted ball, so I never quite understood why the bias was
> designed in...
> 
> -- 
> Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
> 

"Major League Baseball clearly states in rule 1.04 "THE PLAYING FIELD: It is 
desirable that the line from home base through the pitchers plate to second 
base shall run East Northeast." The location of the owner's boxes, prevailing 
wind directions, and a multitude of other reasons have caused rule 1.04 to be 
ignored by Major League baseball teams. Baseball Almanac is pleased to present a 
National League ballpark orientation chart designed to illustrate the actual 
layouts."
[..]
"The sun itself actually plays a role in rule 1.04 as modern ballparks are 
"supposed" to be designed & built so that the sun sets behind third base and 
shines on right field — where fly balls are less frequent due to the larger 
number of right handed hitters.The sun, the owner, the dugout, the wind, the 
physical position of the site where the ballpark is built, and other factors are all 
taken into account in ballpark construction."



http://www.baseball-almanac.com/stadium/ballpark_NSEW_NL.shtml



stevo

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