Improving the odds

It has been over a week since I sat down at the computer to write a post. I doubt any of my readers were lying awake at night wondering what happened to me, waiting on pins and needles for my return. I am happy to inform you that I am doing just fine, perhaps even too well to take the time to post here.

Finally, finally, finally, spring seems to have arrived. In fact, as is so often the case, we will soon be complaining that it too quickly morphed into summer. So we have taken every opportunity to spend time outdoors.

The Botanical Gardens are beautiful this time of year, with so much newly in bloom. We took the new scooter and we went to many of the areas we had not seen in a long time, areas with hills that made it difficult for Barry to push me in a wheelchair. Here are a couple of pictures.

As the week moved along, the weather predictions for last weekend continued to be quite promising, so Barry again bought tickets to an afternoon Mets game on Sunday. The last time had been a bit chilly but yesterday was perfect. The less than perfect part was that the Mets lost 0 to 1. Not a thrilling game, but we a good time.

We also got into an interesting conversation. Barry and I are both right handed, as are our daughters. Joshua is a leftie. I never thought about the fact that a left-handed player needs a glove for the right hand rather than the left. Watching the game yesterday, we noticed that a fairly significant proportion of the players were left-handed. I wondered whether, in the past, parents discouraged use of the left hand, perhaps not wanting their children to be “different,” and that what we are seeing now is closer to the true distribution of handedness in the population. That theory turns out to be way “off base,” so to speak. In fact, about 10% of people in the general population favor the use of their left hand. But among baseball players, that figure is closer to 30%. Why should this be the case?

Next time you watch a baseball game, take a look at what happens when players are up at bat. At the end of a swing, the right-handed batter is facing away from first base, and his momentum is away from first base. The left-handed batter, on the “other hand” (so to speak), is facing towards first base, perhaps giving him that slight edge to run more quickly and get to first base before the ball does. This seemingly miniscule advantage may make the lefties better ball players.

So if you have a left-handed child, he or she may be at a slight advantage in baseball. We think we may be onto a great idea for Joshua’s science fair project for next year.

Meanwhile, have a lovely week. Enjoy the weather while it lasts!

Love,

Rebecca