OBJECTIVE:

The purpose of the study was to determine whether a performance difference exists between baseball players with "same" (right-right) and "crossed" (right-left) hand-ocular dominance.

DESIGN:

A cohort study design was used.

PARTICIPANTS:

Four hundred and ten major and minor league members of the Los Angeles Dodgers professional baseball team.

INTERVENTION:

Measurement of ocular dominance.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

Batting average and earned run average (ERA).

RESULTS:

Same/crossed dominance (with P values in parentheses) are as follows: Batting averages: major league-0.271/0.251 (0.20); minor league-0.274/0.270 (0.57); ERA: major league-3.34/3.56 (0.66); minor league-4.00/4.20 (0.54).

CONCLUSIONS:

Hand-ocular dominance patterns do not have an effect on batting average or ERA.