From Lefty Liefield to Larry French, from Zane Smith to Zach Duke, the Pirates have been pitching baseballs from the south side of the rubber since 1887 and, in all that time, never had an all left-handed starting rotation.

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And yet, over that same century-plus, the team has had dozens of all right-handed rotations.

Which raises the timely issue:

Would the Pirates dare to go into 2006 with an all left-handed rotation, as seems eminently possible at this point?

Would they really send out some combination of Duke, Oliver Perez, Dave Williams, Paul Maholm, Mark Redman, Sean Burnett or Tom Gorzelanny?

"Um, I'll believe it when I see it," Burnett said. "You just don't do it. It's a baseball rule."

Really? Why is that?

"It just is. I don't know the history, but has it ever happened before?"

It has, actually, but it is exceedingly rare in Major League Baseball.

The most recent example came only last year, in Kansas City, but it came with an asterisk. For one, Royals manager Tony Pena's hand was forced by injuries to his top two right-handers. For another, his all left-handed rotation consisted of just four pitchers: Brian Anderson, Darrell May, Jeremy Affeldt and Jimmy Gobble.

It did not work out, and Pena broke it up by the end of April.

The most recent example of five left-handers getting most of the starts over a full season came with the 1983 New York Yankees. That group -- Ron Guidry, Dave Righetti, Shane Rawley, Bob Shirley and Ray Fontenot -- fared much better, carrying the team to a 91-71 record. But it also had two right-handers interspersed most of the year.

Otherwise, there is little precedent.

Across the sport, only eight teams since 1920 have used four left-handers in their opening five games, according to research conducted by Stats, Inc. The Royals of last season were the lone team in that span to use four in the first four games.

Within Pirates history, only the division-winning 1990 edition had four left-handers making 10 or more starts: John Smiley, Zane Smith, Neal Heaton and Randy Tomlin. But that rotation also included two right-handed regulars in Cy Young winner Doug Drabek and Bob Walk.

But all that could be topped next season, and history could be made in Pittsburgh, if certain events play out.

Duke, Perez, Williams and Maholm appear to be locks for the rotation, based on their work this summer. That is four right there.

Redman could make it five if he exercises a $4.5 million player option in his contract to return, as is expected.

Burnett, who is held in no less regard than Duke by some within the organization, is sure to need a few months to regain top form after two major arm surgeries. And Gorzelanny, who throws harder than any of them save Perez, probably needs a year of Class AAA seasoning.

Two right-handers are in the mix, Kip Wells and Ian Snell. But Wells is far from certain to return after another maddening season, and Snell is viewed by some in management as better suited for the bullpen.

"Your first reaction to having all lefties would be, 'Man, that's amazing,' " Gorzelanny said. "But, to be honest, that's the reaction you have when you look at the depth that's in the organization. It really is amazing."

So, why is it so rare?

Two primary reasons are cited most often:

The first, and by far the most prominent, is the scarcity of left-handers. Of the 95 starters who have logged enough innings to qualify for the ERA title this season, only 30 are left-handers. This, of course, is not an issue with the current Pirates.

The other is the long-standing baseball thinking that the main advantage of using a left-hander -- a hitter is not used to seeing pitches from that side -- is lost when he sees one everyday.

The easy counter to that theory is that evidence is scarce. How could anyone know for certain, given how rarely hitters see left-handers on consecutive days, much less entire series?

Duke offered another.

"Not all lefties are alike," he said. "You might get used to seeing the ball come from one side but, if a team mixes up its different types of lefties, that hitter's going to see the ball coming from different arm angles and different speeds. One day, you'll get one consistent motion. The next, you'll get Oliver, who's all over the place."

Williams suggested a rotation in which the similar pitchers, such as he and Redman, or Duke and Maholm, would be spread out.

He also rattled off a few reasons why going all left-handed could be beneficial:

PNC Park's contours are friendly to his ilk, deep enough in left and left-center to tame some would-be gopher balls.

"For everybody but me, anyway," Williams added with a laugh, noting he gave up 16 home runs at home this season and four on the road.

Some opponents have the heart of their order built on left-handed hitters. For example, Cincinnati, a division rival, relies heavily on Sean Casey, Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn to have the National League's most potent offense.

Left-handed hitters fared better against some Pirates than others, but they are batting only .150 against Duke, .087 against Maholm.

As Burnett put it: "I'd think the Reds would be pretty ticked about it if we went all lefty. Some other teams, too."

Fewer runners would try to steal second on the Pirates because a left-handed pitcher has an easier time keeping an eye on first.

Even this season, Pirates pitchers have allowed only 64 steals, third fewest in the league.

"That's taking a big part of the game away," Williams said.

No fuss is made when a rotation is all right-handed or mostly left-handed.

There is ample precedent for both in recent Pirates history.

In 2003, they had an all right-handed rotation of Kip Wells, Kris Benson, Jeff D'Amico, Josh Fogg and Jeff Suppan. The only five starts by a left-hander came from late-season acquisition Perez.

The Pirates also had a decade-long stretch of having their rotation dominated by left-handers. In 1974-78, John Candelaria, Jerry Reuss and Jim Rooker were fixtures on contending teams. And, in 1984, Candelaria was joined by Larry McWilliams and John Tudor.

Pressed to come up with a negative to an all left-handed staff, Williams laughed and replied, "Well, we might not be as good against the suicide squeeze."

Interim manager Pete Mackanin was equally upbeat about the notion.

"Somebody might come up with a reason why you can't do it, but I don't see it," he said. "I've always felt that, if you go with your five best pitchers, what's the difference?"

Still, there is cause for skepticism.

Of the 16 teams in the National League, nine are hitting left-handers better than right-handers. As a whole, the league bats .265 against left-handers, .261 against right-handers.

That is not much difference.

Of those eight teams since 1920 to use four left-handers in the first five games, only three went on to winning records and one went on to win its division, the 1964 Yankees.

Going further back, all five Pirates World Series championship teams mixed left and right in their rotations.

That is not much precedent to convince anyone that playing pioneer could pay off.

"I don't think it's a high percentage you're going to see it," broadcaster and former pitcher Steve Blass said. "You probably want a little balance, in case you run into a club that has a ton of right-handed thumpers. But there's no law against it. I think, if the Pirates feel good between September and April with what they have ... hey, it would be rare, a little bizarre, and it would get a lot of attention. But from what I've seen of these lefties, I could live with five of them."

General manager Dave Littlefield, the man who will make the decision, did not rule it out.

"It wouldn't be a perfect scenario," he said. "But, if they're your best, that's who you go with."