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Originally Posted by Malleus Dei
Much of what has been posted here is hooey.
I know this because (1) I'm ambidextrous, and (2) I was an infielder.
You don't see left-handed-fielding 2B/SS/3B in the majors because throwing left-handed to first just doesn't flipping work, and you can't make it work. And, believe me, I tried hard to make it work. And no one else can make it work at 2B/SS/3B, either.
Take second base. The last left-handed-fielder to play more than just a few games at second in a season in the MLB was Hal Chase, and that was clear back before we got into World War I. The last left-handed-fielder to play second base at all in the MLB, to my knowledge, was Don Mattingly, and that was just for like a game or two. No one does it, not because left-handed fielders aren't available, and not because they are made into pitchers (more hooey), but simply with the throws you have to make and the angles involved it just doesn't work. Been there, tried that, talked it out with the coaches. never did it in a game.
I made a decent non-pro career out of being a third baseman who batted left but fielded right, which is the preferred infield handedness combination; Hank Blalock of the Texas Rangers and Russell Branyan of the Brewers are the exact same thing. You get a left-handed bat in the lineup at 2B/SS/3B, and that's a big bonus.
As to the nonsense about guys who threw left with strong arms being instantly made into pitchers, that never happened. I got put at third base right off the bat because I was the guy with the strongest arm (I'm a big tall guy and always have been) who could make the throw from third to to first consistently and who had the reflexes to play third. No one ever even discussed making me (or any other capable left-handed-thrower) into a pitcher, even though I showed them that I could throw just as well and as strong left-handed as I could right-handed. I never once saw that issue raised with any other decent-hitting left-handed-fielder, ever; they just all played outfield, or, if they had power, first base. Pitchers were pitchers, not converted 2B/SS/3B.
Joe Morgan put it best: "You will not see a left-handed second baseman in major league baseball." And the same goes for left-handed-fielding SS and 3B, too.
So just how does this relate to the game?
Simple. Every 2B, SS, and 3B should *automatically* be set by OOTP2006 to be right-handed fielders immediately upon generation. No question about it.
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