The name behind the name
Left Field was never just a clever name.
It is Brittany's handedness, her western Canadian roots, her instinct for defence and her lifelong habit of finding value where other people are not yet looking.
WHY LEFT FIELD?
Born left.
Drawn to the
unexpected.
A left-handed woman. A baseball metaphor. A way of seeing opportunity before it becomes obvious.
↓LEFT-HANDED✦WESTERN EDGE✦DEFENSIVE DISCIPLINE✦UNEXPECTED RANGE✦BUILT DIFFERENTLY✦LEFT-HANDED✦WESTERN EDGE✦DEFENSIVE DISCIPLINE✦UNEXPECTED RANGE✦BUILT DIFFERENTLY✦
9.53%
OF WOMEN ARE ESTIMATED TO BE LEFT-HANDED
A minority from the beginning
Rare enough to stand out. Not rare enough to explain a life.
The largest prevalence study to date estimated that 10.6% of people—and 9.53% of women—are left-handed.1It is uncommon, but it is not destiny. Brittany's left hand is one detail in a much larger pattern: notice the default, question it, and build a path that works better.
Your hand follows the fresh ink.
Scissors, controls and handles assume a right hand.
Adaptation becomes second nature.
The geometry of left field
Where the angle changes, the play changes.
Left field is position 7, defined from the batter's view at home plate. Its throw to third is shorter than the corresponding throw from right field—not a lesser role, simply different geometry.2
The side depends on where you stand.
From home plate, left field is the batter's left—not the spectator's.
Power finds it one way. Finesse finds it another.
For a right-handed hitter it is the pull side; for a left-handed hitter it is the opposite field.
Every outfield carries its own quirks.
Walls, corners and distances reshape the defensive problem from one ballpark to the next.
“Out of left field” means the unexpected.
The baseball connection is established. The exact reason left field earned the phrase remains disputed.
Left field is where geometry changes, angles surprise and what appears unconventional becomes an advantage.
The southpaw view
Same mound.
Different information.
A left-handed pitcher does not play by different rules. The value lies in orientation, visibility and an angle the hitter encounters less often.3
The runner stays in view.
In the set position, a left-handed pitcher naturally faces first base. That creates a direct visual connection to the runner and a distinctive pickoff advantage.
The angle arrives differently.
The physics are not different, but the release point and movement are mirrored. Hitters see fewer left-handed deliveries, so the angle itself becomes strategic information.
Familiarity is never guaranteed.
Same-handed breaking pitches often move away from the hitter. Left-on-left matchups can be especially uncomfortable because they occur less often.
Scarcity creates value.
Left-handed pitching is strategically scarce. A lefty is not automatically better—just different in ways that can materially change the matchup.
A better brain story
The hemispheres are real. The personality myth is not.
“Left-handed people are right-brained and therefore more creative.”
It is catchy. It is also much too simple.
Handedness changes probabilities—not personalities.
The left hand relies heavily on right-hemisphere motor networks, but complex thought draws on both sides. Most left-handers still process language mainly in the left hemisphere, while a larger minority show bilateral or right-side language organization.4
Creativity, claimed personally
Science cannot credit my creativity to my left hand. I can credit it to a lifetime of visualizing what does not exist yet—and then finding the people and pieces that can make it real.
Research does not show a universal creativity advantage for left-handers.5Brittany's ability to visualize, innovate and connect distant ideas is not a stereotype. It is her own practiced strength.
A few left-field details
About one woman in ten is left-handed.
Left field is number 7 on the scorecard.
The tidy “south-facing paw” origin story is probably folklore.
“Out of left field” kept the surprise—and lost the certainty of its origin.
The one exception
Left in almost every sense. Almost.
Brittany is left-handed, drawn to left field, based on Canada's western edge and instinctively interested in what sits outside the conventional line. Politically, however, her views tend to land more to the right.
“I always joke that I'm so far to the left—and so focused on the left—that I don't do anything right. Politics may be the one exception.”
The joke is not a litmus test. Left Field works across sectors, perspectives and borders. The point is independence: Brittany has never been easy to place inside somebody else's box.
From handedness to how we work
A different angle only matters if it changes the play.
See the angle others miss.
Start with the whole field, not the most obvious route through it.
Protect the downside.
The best offensive opportunity is stronger when the defence is already set.
Adapt without losing identity.
A world built for a different default teaches you how to find your own leverage.
Make the unexpected connection.
Value often appears between sectors, people and ideas that were never placed together before.
Current collaborations
Working with good people on what comes next.
Brittany is currently working with Hyvera and Blue Orca.
Open the conversation
Something interesting
coming out of left field?
Bring the unexpected opportunity. We will read the whole field.
Field notes & sources