TED WILLIAMS, FRED LYNN AND ANDREW BENINTENDI…NOT YAZ OR MO VAUGHN
[6/3/2018 — ARod describing Benintendi’s swing on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball: “Ted Williams-esque.”]
The perfect lefty swing is poetry.
It is a thing of absolute beauty even to the lay pair of eyes.
It’s unlike the perfect right-handed swing which is also a lovely sight to behold but somehow different.
Symmetry should dictate and prevail especially to those of us with that obsessive gene. It does not in this case, nor does it in the case of the throwing motion.
It has often been theorized that right-handers can throw a ball 100% overhanded in terms of the arm’s trajectory while portsiders simply can not. Southpaws can approach the pure and perfect overhand motion but fall infinitesimally short.
If true, then yet another example that there are some things which defy logic and explanation. As would the notion that left-handers have more natural movement on their pitches than righties.
The majesty of the classic lefty swing however is not up for debate.
There have been pontifications galore — and will continue to be — as to why it is considered the embodiment of artful grace and so aesthetically pleasing to watch.
With proper and due respect paid to legendary right-handed hitters like Joe DiMaggio, Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Vladimir Guerrero and Alex Rodriguez, all with picturesque swings, the lefty swing is just better looking.
Simple as that.
One thought is that when righties finish their swings, they are facing toward third base. They then must turn and run toward first base or in the opposite direction of their follow-through which is truncated in an effort to shave nanoseconds from their sprint to first. Their swings can appear choppy, rushed and unfinished as a result.
Not always but often.
The left-handed batter’s box on the other hand offers an inherent benefit to the hitter. When lefties finish their swings they’re heading in the right direction. Their full, natural and unsullied follow-through can propel them down the first-base line.
The looping, parabolic arc of the sweet left-handed swing earned Will “The Thrill” Clark another moniker, reserved for the swing alone: The Clark Cape. Clark began his at-bat in an upright stance, engineered a fluid swing through the strike zone and finished with his bat extended and his top or left hand hovering in space, vaguely resembling the steely matador fanning his cape over the nostril-flared onrushing bull.
Terry “The Crow” Crowley, a pinch-hitter extraordinaire who became a highly respected hitting coach (in spite of a .250 career BA) proffered the theory that lefties have been more comfortable in the batter’s box from day one.
He reasoned that since there are far fewer left-handed pitchers in the youth leagues, lefty hitters see a more steady stream of righties. Pitches from right-handers break in and toward the lefty hitter and away from the righty. Lefty hitters therefore are more settled at the plate; they rarely have to lunge to reach for something outside and they almost never have to bail against the high-and-tight offering.
“They can get real comfortable up there,” Crowley said. “Real aggressive. And you can take a nice, natural swing. [When they get older] they hardly ever have to worry about getting one in the ear…”
Makes sense.
But still a bit of a mystery unless the most compelling explanation is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Of the top ten career leaders in batting average only two were right-handed hitters, Rogers Hornsby (#2 — .3585); and Ed Delahanty (#5 — .3458). From #s 11–20 on the list, four more righties appeared meaning that 14 of the top twenty career batting average leaders swung from the left-handed batter’s box.
A 2012 statistical study determined that lefty hitters overall had a batting average that was 7 points higher — .270 vs. .263 — than their right-handed counterparts.
There are three viable reasons which might explain, at least in part, left-handed hitting superiority.
1.) With a runner on first base, the 3–4 hole is much easier for a lefty to find;
With the first baseman holding the runner and the second baseman playing at double-play depth, an enormous hole is created on the right side of the infield. Rolling over the baseball and hitting a grounder to your pull side is like breaking sticks. For the righty hitter however, there is no such hole as the third baseman and shortstop are usually able to pinch in with impunity. This offers the left-handed batter a significant advantage.
2.) Left-handed hitters are one step closer to first base than right-handed hitters;
All things equal, being one step closer to first base obviously improves your chance of beating out an infield ground ball. A few of these a season can add up. Speedy lefties put more pressure on the infielders than righties who can run. Dissenters believe that because lefties pull more balls to the first and second basemen, the shorter throw neutralizes the advantage. Open to question.
and
3.) Left-handed hitters see more off-handed match-ups which benefit the hitter.
Right-handed pitching in the big leagues is more common than left-handed pitching, roughly to the tune of 61%-39%. An off-handed at bat brings greater comfort in the box which lefty hitters therefore enjoy more frequently than righties.
A better view of the ball, not having to reach for the filthy slider and the ability to position the head so that both eyes can track the pitch as opposed to just one eye, all feed this comfort quotient of which the lefty swinger is the greater beneficiary.
The Boston Red Sox, in business since 1901 as the Boston Americans, have had their share of pretty fair left-handed hitters. Tris Speaker; Babe; Teddy Ballgame; Yaz; Fred Lynn; Wade Boggs; Mo Vaughn; and Papi would comprise the top tier. Other notables in no particular order included Pete Runnels, Mike Greenwell, Bill Buckner, Trot Nixon, J.D. Drew, and even Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez I’m afraid.
In a 2016 challenging look, AXS.com determined the best five hitters of all-time in the team’s remarkable history based on hitting alone (and time of service, which ruled out Ruth).
A balanced approach between the peak value and career value of the player was the key guideline. Four of the five — Williams, Yastrzemski, Boggs and Ortiz — hit lefty.
Jim Rice was the lone right-handed hitter.
Rice and Freddie Lynn came up together in 1975 and were known as the “Gold Dust Twins,” courtesy of Hall-of-Fame scribe Peter Gammons.
Rice began his own HOF career by hitting .309 with 22 HRs and 102 RBI in a rookie season cut short in September when a Vern Ruhle fastball broke his left wrist.
No playoffs for Jim Ed.
Lynn burst onto the scene with greatness written all over him.
He batted .331 with 21 HRs and 105 RBI during a campaign in which he won a Gold Glove and was named both the American League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player.
(The only other player to win both awards in the same season was Ichiro in 2001 and he came to Seattle with nine professional seasons in Japan already under his belt).
During an epic collapse in the Fall of 1974 when the Red Sox missed the playoffs — they were seven games ahead of second-place Baltimore on August 23rd. and finished in third-place, 7 games behind the O’s thanks to a 14–24 record down the stretch — Rice and Lynn were both called up.
Lynn hit .419 in fifteen games showcasing a left-handed swing that hadn’t been seen around these parts since 1960. No disrespect to Yaz; Lynn’s swing was prettier.
In ’75 when they took over as starters, the pair of rookies were entrusted with holding up the heart of the order on a club with Yaz and Carlton Fisk which hadn’t won a World Series in 57 years.
They both started well but on June 18th. in Detroit the magic of Lynn and his swing firmly took hold.
In that night’s game Lynn effortlessly swatted three homers and knocked in 10 runs.
Said baseball lifer and then-third base coach Don Zimmer at the time, “In all of my 27 years in the game…I’ve never seen anyone do everything — hit, hit with power, field, throw — like this kid. Unbelievable.”
Comparisons to Joe DiMaggio began to be bandied about.
Though no speed demon on the bases Lynn was fleet afoot when patrolling center field. Said he, “You have to be fast. I think it’s important for a center fielder in Boston to be fast. Right-center is a long way, and you’ve got to keep that guy off third base and keep the double plays in order. Those things are overlooked in today’s game, but it really helps to have a guy who can throw…In Fenway, you’re a defender first and a hitter second.”
[Tangentially, Jackie Bradley Jr. is appreciative of this sentiment and sends his heartfelt thanks.]
Andrew Benintendi, the 23-year-old Red Sox outfielder is fast becoming one of the best players in baseball. He has hit four home runs in his last five games and in the 11 games since Mookie Betts was forced to the sidelines with an abdominal strain, Benintendi has assumed the leadoff spot and is 17–47 (.362) with four doubles, five homers, a triple, 11 RBI, 12 runs and two stolen bases.
He was doing beautifully as the #2 hitter in the lineup, but the team comes first and Benintendi knows it.
Hitting coach Tim Hyers remarked astutely, “That tells you something about him, stepping into Mookie’s spot and hitting like that. The people in our locker room understand his talent. This is a special player.”
He embraces challenges.
His first one at the plate this season was to rebound from a slow start. The next was to bat second every day against righties and lefties. Then to hit leadoff spelling Betts.
Nobody spells Betts and “Benny” is “Benny.”
His all-around game is bursting into full bloom but that swing is picture-postcard-perfect. And he knows it deep down inside.
“He knows his swing,” Hyers said. “There are sometimes some timing issues and he was maybe trying to do too much at the beginning of the year. But he has a natural swing. His hands are so good…His swing is smooth and easy on the eyes to watch…”
An understatement if there ever was one.
Neither the careers of Ted Williams nor Freddie Lynn require any further in-depth examination or critiquing.
Andrew Benintendi, with but one full year of major league baseball experience on his resume is filling up the box score every night.
In the field he acquits himself nicely and will get better. He is learning how to run the bases intelligently and has improved his SB% to 0.91 (10–11) this season from last year’s 0.80 (20–25).
That’s 30 stolen bases in roughly 1 ½ seasons.
In fact since the start of 2017 only three players in baseball have recorded at least 30 HRs, 100 RBI, 100 R and 30 SB.
Mike Trout. Mookie Betts. And Andrew Benintendi.
The sky’s the limit.
But it’s that sweet left-handed swing.
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in June 2018.]
