"out of left field" (Why "left"?)

[Bob Haas]

Good point about the CF, Larry, but we'd probably have to turn to the majors
and minors to get such data.  They've got the stats on everything, maybe
college ball, as well.  But back to the CF making the majority of plays, I'd
bet that a lot of those take place in left-center.  But we'd need to look at
the data.

On 3/27/01 10:19 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:

>> Except, Larry, that more play takes place in left field.  I would be
>> interested in the amount of activity that actually does take place in
>> center.
>
> Again, I'd love to see empirical support for this claim.  Center
> fielders make more putouts than left or right fielders, although no
> doubt some of that results from the fact that they're usually faster
> afoot (precisely because the greensward is so much vaster in
> center--can you imagine Willie Mays playing left?), and also because
> on fly balls to left- or right-center, the CF is the presumptive
> fielder and calls the others off the ball.  But none of this
> demonstrates that more play takes place in left.