Washington Nationals relief pitcher Sean Doolittle

An estimated ten percent of the world’s population is left-handed

Scientists have not definitely figured out why

This store for left-handed merchandise — and gifts that celebrate left-handed pride — has been a mainstay at Pier 39 going back to the late 1970s, with a hiatus in between. Originally called Left Hand World, it was the first store of its kind in the US selling products for left-handers (and perhaps the inspiration for Ned Flanders’ Leftorium on The Simpsons). The shop’s bestselling items include can-openers and other cooking utensils for lefties, as well as a novelty sign that says, “I May Be Left-Handed but I’m Always Right.”

Lefties make up only an estimated 10 percent of the world’s population, and the store owner Margaret Majua understands that they sometimes feel, well, left out.

Southpaw correspondent Rita Braver talks with some famous lefties (including former President Bill Clinton, and World Series winning pitcher Sean Doolittle) about functioning in a world dominated by the right-handed.

Of course, Braver notes, “We lefties do have greatness in our ranks.” Among them: artists (Michelangelo, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci), actors (Charlie Chaplin, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt), musicians (Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain), techies (Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg), and eight of 45 U.S. presidents, including former President Bill Clinton.

When asked about the “myth” that lefties are more creative, author and journalist David Wolman said, “Oh, let’s kill it, together, here and now, let’s just kill it!”

But some research shows left-handed people organize thoughts, and tasks, in a different way. “Absolutely, and that is really mysterious,” Wolman said.

Wolman was so intrigued by the mysteries and myths surrounding left-handers like himself, that he spent a year traveling the globe to write a book, “A Left-Hand Turn Around the World,” about the hand often associated with the devil. The very word” left” comes from the old English “Lyft,” meaning weak or worthless.

Still, many lefties are great athletes, from quarterbacks (Steve Young, Boomer Esiason) to tennis players (Martina Navratilova, Rafael Nadal).

Sean Doolittle is not “out in the left field”; he’s one in a long line of famous southpaw pitchers (including Whitey Ford, Warren Spahn, and Sandy Koufax). In 2019, Doolittle was the closer, helping the Washington Nationals win Game One of the World Series. “In baseball, I think [left-handedness] definitely is a good thing,” he said. “I got brought in in the eighth inning when they had a left-handed hitter up. And so, I got the final out of the eighth inning, and I finished the ninth inning, and we got the win.”

Lefties have rights, too

Braver asked, “One of the advantages seems to be that lefty pitchers are good, not just at getting left-handed batters out, but also right-handed batters because righties aren’t used to facing people like you so much?”

“Right, it’s just a different look, because in baseball there are much, much fewer left-handed pitchers, so the ball is coming in on a different angle,” he said.

What would lefty expert David Wolman do, if somebody could magically make him right-handed like everybody else? “I would say, ‘Are you out of your mind?'” he laughed. “No. Never. No, no, no, and no!”

To which Braver added, “Me, either.”

Sources: