A lot of things are set up contrary to what's comfortable for a lefty.

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(I'm left-handed, and I do enjoy it, for what it's worth.)

Here are some grievances:

Screws, scissors, lawn-mower pulls, circular saws, most desks, left-to-right handwriting (see the ink stain on the outside of a lefty's left hand), a baseball infield, organization of most football offenses, setup of most dog-leg golf holes, setup of gear shifts on an American car, a piano ...

But some things are in our favor:

The batter's box in baseball, the oil on a bowling lane, the first baseman's job ... The left-handed pitcher has a strong advantage on the mound when it comes to holding men at first, and pitching against lefties (who are among the game's most successful hitters: Ruth, Gehrig, Williams, Musial, Bonds). And maybe, since the left hand hits the bass notes, it's not so bad after all to be a left-handed piano player. Mozart was left-handed.

And I've heard that a disproportionate percentage of lefties are in Mensa, for what that's worth, which is probably not a whole lot. But there does appear to be a link between left-handedness and certain kinds of cognitive ability, especially in mathematics and music.

The odd thing is that I'm right-footed, and I can paint (a wall, a house; not a picture) with either hand, with the same precision. And another odd thing, that somehow escaped my notice when I was a kid: about 15 percent of MLB players are right-handed but bat exclusively left-handed (3B George Brett, for example). Only about 2 percent are left-handed but bat exclusively right-handed (why you'd do that, I don't know -- you're farther away from first base. I think Juan Encarnacion was one.)

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