Minor League Ball: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Sports blogs for fans, by fans.
Around SBN: Cal RB Jahvid Best Seriously Injured, Carted Off Field

help with the term "southpaw"

During a spirited discussion at work, the term "southpaw" was used.  This led to a debate about the actual term.  It went so far as to someone using the lingo from Rocky I.  Can anyone tell the story about how lefties were named "southpaws"?  I can't find anything on this subject other than a definition which says "left handed pitcher."

0 recs  |  Comment 3 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

Here's some info:
Southpaw has its origins in 1880s' baseball slang. Baseball diamonds were often arranged so the batters would face east, to avoid looking into the afternoon sun. The pitcher's left hand, or paw, would therefore be on the southern side.

taken from: http://www.wordorigins.org/wordors.htm

by Russ on Apr 28, 2005 7:55 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

great handle, art core.
--Brew Crew Ball, daily Brewers blog and online community

by jsackmann on Apr 29, 2005 3:16 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I Think I know...
Actually I know this, and I quote The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees:

"In the later part of the 1880s, Finley Peter Dunne, a sports writer with a sense of humor, was covering baseball games in Chicago. At one particular game, Dunne noticed that a left-handed pitcher released the ball with his hand (paw) that was to his south side. (It must have been a boring game!) Just like a lot of these dopey expressions, this one stuck and we now call lefthanders southpaws. Apparetly, Mr. Dunne did not see fit to call right handers northpaws."

This is as good an explanation as I've heard.

Julian de Lavalle

by jdelavalle on Apr 30, 2005 5:44 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Minor League Ball: Where the Future of Baseball is Discussed
Start posting on Minor League Ball »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Pose_small
SHS 'spect list continued....101-201
Hu_080227mag_uptonscover_small
daveh's top 111 prospects for 2010

Recent FanPosts

Small
Top 15 high school MLB draft prospects
Small
My Scouting Northeast Baseball site it up
Small
BP BAL Top 15
N16115505_31581383_8646_small
Rising Stars Chat
Small
Dexter Fowler and UZR
Small
Teahen to the White Sox....
Planetterror_small
Stephen Strasburg is out of the AFL Rising Stars Game
N16115505_31581383_8646_small
Twins Acquire J.J. Hardy For Carlos Gomez
Small
BA NYM TOP 10
Batmanbaseball_small
Timmy Lincecum likes weed.....

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >


Managers

Carew_small John Sickels


Site Meter