If you ’re not familiar with the term " southpaw , " attempt to conjure its meaning might charge your mental imagery all over the place . The term actually refers to hoi polloi who areleft - handed , and it has been part and parcel of account the trait since the 1800s .
twist out , we havebaseballand boxing to give thanks for associating southpaw with left - handedness . Perhaps the earliest recorded usage of the word " left hander " appears in an 1813letter to the editorin The Tickler , a satirical Philadelphia - based newspaper , but it presently became inexorably linked with packing — although there are disagree opinions as to its origin .
An 1848political cartoonillustrates the enjoyment of " southpaw " as a terminal figure for someone strike a blow with their left helping hand , in this case a Democratic contender for prexy , Lewis Cass , uses a southpaw knockout punch to knock out both his competition — Zachary Taylor — and Taylor ’s running mate , Millard Filmore . It is Filmore ’s impersonation , splendid with a black eye , who say , " Curse the old hoss wot a south paw he has given me ! "
The association with boxing becomes even strong as the 1800s forward motion . An 1860 prize - combat in which two fisticuffs opposer have a bare - knuckled battle , is summed up in a New York Herald composition that David Woods , who is leave - handed , in the 9th bout " engraft his ' south paw ' under [ his opponent ’s ] chin , repose him out 2-dimensional as a pancake . "
The terminal figure " southpaw " has other origins in baseball game too , where it refer toany remaining - handed actor , but peculiarly a left - handed pitcher . There are claims that the full term arose from the way ballparks in the 1800s were built — with house plate to the west , which think of that a left - handed instrumentalist facing Rebecca West would be pitch with his " south " paw .
However , there are several other accounts of the terminal figure " southpaw " being used to describe not only pitcher , butany participant ; an 1875 edition of a St. Louis newspaper thatreferred toa left - handed batter as a left-handed pitcher , a left - handed first baseman identify as a lefty in an 1858 variation of theNew York Atlas , and so on .
And there ’s the issue of orientation . Not all big league stadiums faced the W . It ’s likely , though , that at Chicago ’s West Side Park , which did have a domicile plate that faced west , sports writers vulgarise the terminal figure .
Major League Baseball ’s official historian , John Thorn , has chronicled the term ’s move from boxing to baseball game , and believes the term " south " and " leave " have both been assort with rascally personnel , which would make a southpaw stance the start point for a wicked stroke .
