The left-hander reached his career-high ATP Tour singles ranking of World No. 22 on November 5, 2001.

He reached the major leagues in 1954, but after four seasons in which he was used largely in relief, posting a combined record of 16-29, he was traded in December 1957 to the Reds for left-hander Don Gross.

In the late 1940s he was among the team's stars, becoming the first left-hander ever to win three games in a single World Series in 1946 and later leading the National League in several categories in.

He was the first left-hander to win a major, but also the first lefty to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, in the veterans category.

It was the first Yankee no-hitter since Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, and the first by a Yankee left-hander since 1917.

The home run was against the New York Yankees in Game One of the 1963 World Series off Whitey Ford — the only home run the Yankee left-hander had yielded to a left-handed batter all season.

Nevertheless, the lanky left-hander received a World Series ring for his contributions to the 2004 World Series Champion Red Sox .< ref >" Lenny DiNardo.

A hard-throwing left-hander, Howe was the Rookie of the Year in 1980, saved the clinching game of the 1981 World Series, and was an All-Star in 1982.

With both home runs coming against left-hander CC Sabathia, Utley joined Babe Ruth as the second left-handed batter to hit two home runs in a World Series game against a left-handed pitcher.

In, spearheaded by the National League's best one-two pitching combination, left-hander Warren Spahn and right-hander Johnny Sain, the Braves won their second NL pennant of the 20th century but were defeated in six games by the Cleveland Indians in the 1948 World Series.

His stolen base came on a 1-2 count with left-hander Aaron Guiel at the plate and gave the Royals a 2-1 lead, but KC lost the game 3-2 in 14 innings.

Eddie Plank, pitching for the St. Louis Terriers, won his milestone 300th game on September 14, 1915 at St. Louis ' Handlan's Park, becoming the first 300-game winning left-hander in the history of major league baseball and one of only five as of 2008.

As a left-hander, Spahn was able not only to watch any runner on first base, but also to not telegraph whether he was delivering to the plate or to first base, thereby forcing the runner to stay close to the bag.

John Franklin Sain ( September 25, 1917 – November 7, 2006 ) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who was best known for teaming with left-hander Warren Spahn on the Boston Braves teams from 1946 to 1951.

Naturally right-handed, when he was six years old Thorpe changed his stance to make it harder for his two elder brothers to get him out and because the boundary in his garden was shorter on the leg-side for a left-hander.

Randy Johnson has since won his 300th game on June 4, 2009, becoming the 24th pitcher and 6th left-hander to do so.

A left-hander, Lopat made his Major League pitching debut on April 30, 1944, playing for the Chicago White Sox.

David Wells tied Whitey Ford for 13th place in victories by a left-hander on August 26,.

The left-hander was perceived to be a better player of spin and a better prospect on the dry pitches of the Indian subcontinent than Ponting.

Part of his trademark radio signoff phrase-" This is the old left-hander, rounding third and heading for home "-is displayed on the outside of the Reds ' stadium, Great American Ball Park, which opened in.

He also has the distinction of catching both of Reds left-hander Johnny Vander Meer's back-to-back no-hitters, accomplished on June 11 and June 15, 1938.

His finest season was in 1990, when he won 18 games to just 9 losses and posted a 2. 40 ERA — to date, the lowest by an Angel left-hander on a season, surpassing Frank Tanana's 2. 43 in 1976.

" He lost 6-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers and left-hander Mike Caldwell on July 7, lost 2-1 to the Baltimore Orioles and left-hander Mike Flanagan on August 4, and lost 8-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays and left-hander Mike Willis on September 20.

He was nicknamed " The Kitten " in St. Louis for his resemblance to Harry " The Cat " Brecheen, a left-hander on the Cardinals during Haddix's rookie campaign.

The left-hander stayed on the sidelines for the first half of the following season when the Test players returned.

Ankiel hit his first grand slam at St. Louis against left-hander Eddie Guardado of the Cincinnati Reds on August 31 with the team trailing 4 – 3, for a 8 – 5 win that broke a tie with Red Schoendienst for LaRussa for most wins by a Cardinals manager.

The pitching staff had six players with ten or more wins, led by twenty-game-winner Dennis Leonard ( 20 – 11, 3. 79 ) and left-hander Larry Gura ( 18 – 10, 2. 95 ).

An all-rounder, he bowled slow left-arm orthodox and chinaman and batted doggedly as a left-hander, mostly at number six or seven, compiling 7 centuries in his first class career.

A left-hander, Navratilova won all four Grand Slam women's doubles titles in 1984, partnering right-handed Pam Shriver, a tall and talented player whose most noted stroke was a slice forehand, a shot virtually unheard of in the game today.

But his untapped talent was volcanic: in 1990, Johnson became the first left-hander to strike out Wade Boggs three times in one game, and a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers attested to his potential.

Valenzuela was less dominant after the 1981 player strike wiped out the middle third of the season, but the left-hander still finished with a 13 – 7 record and a 2. 48 ERA.

Career highlights include a game-tying, 2-run pinch hit double in the top of the ninth inning against the New York Yankees, then scored to put the Pilots ahead to stay, winning 5 – 4 ( June 14, 1969 ), a walk-off, 2-run double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth for the Brewers as they came from behind and defeated the Minnesota Twins, 4 – 3 ( June 23, 1970 ), drove in both Milwaukee runs with a pair of sacrifice flies in a 2 – 1 win over the Kansas City Royals ( July 5, 1970 ), hit the only home run of his major league career, a solo shot against Chicago White Sox left-hander Jim Magnuson ( August 5, 1970 ).

The left-hander was signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before the 1962 season and played for the Senators ( 1965 – 1969 ), Cleveland Indians ( 1970 ) and Chicago White Sox ( 1970 ).

On August 19, 1969, he pitched his first no-hitter at Wrigley Field against the eventual Western Division champion Atlanta Braves, winning 3 – 0 on Ron Santo's 3-run home run and outdueling the Braves ' Phil Niekro ; Holtzman notably had no strikeouts in his gem, which was the first no-hitter ever thrown by a Cub left-hander at Wrigley Field.

On November 7,, Lee was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame as the team's record-holder for most games pitched by a left-hander ( 321 ) and the third-highest win total ( 94 ) by a Red Sox southpaw.

Lee was a 2008 inductee into the Red Sox Hall of Fame as the team's record-holder for most games pitched by a left-hander ( 321 ) and the third-highest win total by a Red Sox southpaw ( 94 ).

A four-time winner of 20 games in the early 1920s, he was the first National League left-hander to win 200 games.

His 1, 119 career games pitched is an NL record, and is ranked third in major league history ; his 424 career saves ranked second in major league history when he retired, and remain the most by a left-hander.

While most throws a first baseman must make go to the right, which a left-hander can generally accomplish with greater speed and fluency, this is a relatively small factor in the advantage for left-handed first baseman.

) Second, because the first baseman starts most plays with his left leg closer to the base, the left-hander does not have to make a half-pivot in order to get into the correct position to stretch out for a throw.

His 80 victories with Chicago were the fourth most by a left-hander, behind Hippo Vaughn ( 151 ), Larry French ( 95 ), and Dick Ellsworth ( 84 ).