baseball leans to the left

David Peters was born lefthanded. It took a few raps on the hand by his teachers, but like many in his generation, he switched to being a righty.

Maybe that's why Peters, now 61, became a scholar instead of a first baseman.

Peters is an engineering professor at Washington University in St. Louis who happens to be a baseball nut. He looked at baseball from an engineer's perspective and determined that southpaws have a decided advantage.

"Ninety percent of the human population is righthanded, but in baseball 25 percent of the players, both pitchers and batters, are lefthanded," Peters said.

"Do lefties have an advantage? They definitely do. The statistics bear that out."