Williams, the "Splendid Splinter". He batted left-handed but threw right-handed, the most coveted combination in baseball. Williams was signed by a Pacific Coast League minor-level team, and after many seasons in San Diego and Minneapolis, he was promoted to the Red Sox main league squad in 1939. From there Williams spent his entire 19-year career with the Boston Red Sox, banging baseballs all over Fenway Park.
The sweet-swinging, left-handed hitting Williams was a six-time AL batting champion with a lifetime.344 batting average and 521 home runs. Williams is most recognized for being the last big leaguer to bat more than.400 in a single season. This occurred in 1941 when he batted.406. Williams won his first of two Triple Crowns the following season.
Before the 2018 season, Goodrum joined the Tigers as a minor-league free agent from the Twins. Out of 387 games with the Tigers, he hit.230/.303/.396, with a.700 OPS and a 2.3 WAR. At the plate, he was a bit of a puzzle. He was a switch-hitter who batted more than 100 points better right-handed yet blasted 36 of his 42 home homers left-handed.
In 2018, he appeared in 131 games and set career highs in OPS-plus (100) and slugging percentage (.432). He drove in 53 runs and hit 16 home homers. Goodrum, a switch-hitter, has started at second base (114), shortstop (147), first base (39), third base (10), and in the outfield during his five seasons in the Major Leagues (56). In 2021, he participated in 90 games and hit.
Plum, a member of the Las Vegas Aces, topped the first Olympic 3x3 tournament in points per game (6.2), assisting the United States to win gold. She won gold at the 2018 FIBA World Cup and has a 52-4 overall record with USA teams in five-on-five, three-on-three, and exhibition play.
Plum earned a gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Cup in 2013 and a silver medal in the Pan American Games in 2015. She graduated from the University of Washington as the NCAA Division I all-time top scorer with 3,527 points (25.4 ppg.), and she holds the NCAA single-season scoring record (1,109 in 2016-17) and the NCAA lifetime free throws record (912). She's fast becoming a legend, and she's definitely someone to keep an eye on.
Commissioner Rob Manfred has acknowledged Ohtani's season in 2021 as "historically noteworthy" and having a "great influence on the sport." As a batter, he became the first two-way player in Major League Baseball history to have 10 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases. In addition, he had 100+ strikeouts and 10+ pitching appearances as a pitcher in the same season, while simultaneously sharing the major league lead in home runs in fourteen starts.
In the 2021 All-Star Game, he was the first player in MLB history to be an All-Star as both a pitcher and a hitter, being the American League's manager-selected starting pitcher and fan-selected starting designated hitter. This left-handed batter recently became the first left-handed batter in Angels history to reach 40 home runs, surpassing lefty Reggie Jackson's 1982 record of 39.
According to research, being left-handed may make you a better athlete. Then it might not surprise you to find Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic gold decathlete champion, is left-handed. In recent years, Caitlyn Marie Jenner has become a major media personality. Jenner was once a member of the Graceland Yellowjackets before sustaining a knee injury that required surgery.
Jenner now owns the Jenner Racing team, which participates in the W series of motorsports. Her goal is to encourage young girls and offer women a chance to excel in historically male-dominated fields. She is transforming the face of racing. Despite the fact that she is a lefty, her children Kendall and Kylie are not. That one must have been influenced by the Kardashian genes.
Snell has done a lot in his brief career. With a stellar 2018 season, he became the franchise's second Cy Young Award winner. That's right he's a Major League Baseball pitcher who currently plays for the San Diego Padres. He made his MLB debut in 2016 with the Tampa Bay Rays and won the American League Cy Young Award, in 2018, when he was an All-Star and led the league in both wins and earned run average.
On December 29, 2020, the Rays traded Snell to the San Diego Padres. This kid does most things right-handed, that is - until it comes to baseball. He has an average ERA of 3.42 and his fastball can go over 95 miles per hour. Again, with his left hand, which he mostly only uses for baseball.
Kershaw, a left-handed starting pitcher for the Dodgers, has spent 14 seasons in the major leagues since his debut in 2008. He is an eight-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner, and the 2014 NL Most Valuable Player. Kershaw has probably been the finest pitcher of his generation, and he has remained in the top tier despite lower velocity, thanks to changes in pitch mix and placement.
He's even traveled up to Driveline in Washington over the winter, willing to accept technological advancements in exchange for a small improvement. After Kershaw's first Spring Training with the Major League club in 2008, then-manager Joe Torre compared him to Sandy Koufax (the youngest player ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame). We don't think he was mistaken.
Ronda Jean Rousey is an American professional wrestler, actress, former judoka, and mixed martial artist. She is now under contract with WWE and performs on the SmackDown brand. Despite being born right-handed, her judoka fighting posture was that of a left-hander in an orthodox stance. She is unquestionably most known for her dominance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She rose to prominence as one of the sport's most fearsome competitors thanks to her devastating left hand.
With the blessing of the late Roddy Piper, she dubbed herself "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey and started on a brutal unbeaten streak in the WWE, submitting opponents in a matter of seconds through her famous armbar. Along the way, she acquired the sports-entertainment itch, sharing the ring with The Rock and The Authority at WrestleMania 31.
"The Great One" not only possessed a renowned left-handed shot but there may never be a greater playmaker in hockey history. Gretzky still maintains multiple NHL marks, including the most career points (2,857), goals (894), and assists (1,963). He has won the Art Ross Trophy ten times and the Hart Trophy nine times. Gretzky won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers and was selected All-Star Game MVP three times. This marvel of a human is technically right-handed, but because he set NHL records with a left-handed stick, he's on the list.
He made his team's players full partners in the game, requiring them to attain his level of skating and finish the game at his level, or else they would be shamed in front of the spectators. This man had 50 regular-season hat tricks in his career or one in 3.4 percent of his games. That is, he made 3 goals in 1 game. Most players are lucky to even get one. He was made of magic, and the fans love him for it.
Flanagan, the 1979 AL Cy Young Award winner, was the Orioles' ace for a decade and one of the team's most complex players of the previous half-century. His 1979 season was the best in a seven-year span in which he went 108-68 with a 3.76 ERA, bookended two spectacular years that led to an AL pennant for the Orioles. The Orioles won the World Series in 1979, defeating the Pirates in seven games, thanks to Flanagan's AL-best 23 wins, five shutouts, and sparkling 3.08 ERA. Despite losing time due to injury, he had likely his second-most productive season during their championship year of 1983, finishing 12-4 with a 3.30 ERA.
Flanagan pitched in 15 seasons for the Orioles, going 141-116 with a 3.89 ERA as a starter and reliever. He was part of the club's joint no-hitter in 1991 and was the final Oriole to pitch at Memorial Stadium. After retiring, Flanagan stayed involved with the team in a variety of capacities, including stints as head of baseball operations, pitching instructor, and broadcaster.
Any list of lefties would be incomplete without "Lefty," whose true name was Robert Moses Grove. However, Lefty is how he is referred to on the Baseball Hall of Fame website. Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove, was a professional baseball pitcher. Grove rose to fame in Major League Baseball with the American League's Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox after excelling in the lower leagues throughout the early 1920s. His career record was 300-141, good for a.680 winning percentage, the highest among 300-win club members.
With nine ERA crowns, he has the most of any pitcher in history. Despite this, he is frequently overlooked. Maybe one reason is that he is oft forgotten is that he lacked the flashy personality of Babe Ruth, Dizzy Dean, and other Roaring Twenties and beyond celebrities. Perhaps his legacy is harmed by the fact that he played for a team that no longer exists: the Philadelphia A's were relocated to Kansas City following the 1954 season, and then to Oakland following the 1967 season. We remember you Lefty, perhaps the best left-handed pitcher in history.
In the boxing arena, De La Hoya was so skilled that he could transform a left-handed jab into a lethal hook in the blink of an eye. This Hall of Famer, dubbed "The Golden Boy," took gold in the 1992 Olympics. He was the sole American boxer to win a gold medal that year.
From there, his strong left punch from an orthodox stance propelled him to 11 world titles in six different weight divisions over the course of a great professional boxing career that lasted more than 15 years. Thirty of De La Hoya's 39 professional victories were via knockout. BoxRec ranks him as the 29th best boxer of all time, pound for pound.
Buehrle was a manager's dream, and the two-hour ballgame king. Toronto's all-in effort in 2013 brought Buehrle there from the Marlins in a 13-player business deal, and while that version of the team didn't go all the way, it wasn't Buehrle's fault. Buehrle's 214 career victories, 14 consecutive seasons of 200-plus innings, and World Series ring are testaments to his consistency and longevity.
Manager John Gibbons admired Buehrle and offered him a shot to hit 200 innings for the 15th time in a row in the final game of the 2015 season. Buehrle doesn't have a Cy Young Award or a season with a 2.00 ERA to his name, but every team in baseball would have been better off with him in their rotation. He was also one of the finest defense pitchers of his era, winning four Gold Glove Awards. Likewise, he's been declared the greatest left-handed starter in the history of the White Sox.
The fourteenth person on our list is a true athlete! Not only one of the finest left-handed athletes of all time but one of the best athletes of all time. You are aware of his journey. Tim Tebow is a Heisman Trophy winner, a two-time NCAA national champion, an NFL quarterback, a TV college football pundit, a philanthropist, a missionary, and a professional baseball player.
He spent three seasons as a quarterback in the National Football League, with the Denver Broncos and the New York Jets. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though, no - this star athlete started out in the Philippines with missionary parents. He grew up driven. Now, this man can do it all - as an athlete at least. Get 'em, Tim!
Possibly the most famous sports figure of all time, Babe Ruth became a legend because of the way he swung his bat. The left-handed slugger's career home run grand total was 714. In addition, he had 2,873 hits, including 506 doubles, and 2,218 RBIs in 22 major-league seasons, most of which he spent with the New York Yankees, to the dismay of the Boston Red Sox.
What the typical baseball fan may not understand is that from 1915 through 1919, the Babe went 94-46 with a 2.28 ERA with his left arm, primarily with the Boston Red Sox. It's sure is a shame they sold the Great Bambino off. Surely that play alone will stand the test of time.
