southpaw

Someone who is left-handed. Refers specifically to pitchers in baseball, but can be used generally. The
term came about because baseball stadia in the early 20th century were built so that home plate was due west of the pitcher's mound (to cut down on shadows). Therefore, a left-handed pitcher would face south while standing on the mound.

A "Premium Beer" put out by the Plank Road Brewery ranking in at 5.0%. But seriously, this is your typical "gut rot beer" and comes best in tall boy six packs. An appreciation of Southpaw, though, comes after you've got a good understanding of how tall boy drinking works.

Usually, unless you're some sort of beer guzzler, or a Brit, the lower 1/4 of the beer gets too tepid to drink. I mean, you drink it anyway, but it's not as frosty and tasty as that first 3/4. But, amazingly, the Southpaw is still good in that tepid 1/4 phase.

In the sport of Boxing a southpaw is a fighter who tends to use the "southpaw stance" and, therefore, has his power in his left hand. An orthodox fighter will place his left foot forward, while the southpaw puts his right foot forward. Or, if you have no idea what you are doing, you can fight "squared up" (with no foot forward) and have no power at all. A southpaw fighter does not necesarily have to be "left-handed". If they really like throwing accurate jabs I suppose a right-handed fighter could use the southpaw stance. There are also many fighters who will switch stances during a fight if they think it will give them an edge.

Being a southpaw caries a sort of stigma with it. In Boxing, fighters rely heavily on instinct and rhythm. They get used to how punches are thrown and from what angles they usually come from. A southpaw throws everything backwards. This wouldn't be so much of a problem if there were more southpaws. As it is, it is very hard to find a southpaw to practice against. In general, an orthodox fighter will be at a disadvantage when having to fight a southpaw. The southpaw will have had plenty of experience against orthodox fighters, but not the other way around. It's even a disadvantage for a southpaw to fight a southpaw. Therefore, southpaws often have a hard time getting major fights.

Another problem for an orthodox fighter in facing a southpaw is that the stances clash. The lead feet of the two boxers will be right in front of each other. This tends to cause problems with feet getting stepped on or accidental tripping. There also seems to be more accidental headbutts in this situation.

South"paw` (?), a. (Baseball)

Using the left hand in pitching; said of a pitcher.

[Cant]

 

© Webster 1913.

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South"paw`, n.

A pitcher who pitches with the left hand.

[Cant]

 

© Webster 1913.