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173:(SS). Generally, the first three have responsibility for plays at their respective bases, although the shortstop often shares responsibility for second base with the second baseman. Each position requires a different set of skills. A player who lacks the offensive or defensive skills needed to be a member of the starting lineup, but who has the various skills needed to play two or more infield positions competently and therefore can be called upon to come off the bench and fill a variety of defensive roles is called a
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baseman because these attributes help him handle off-target throws. The first baseman must be able to cleanly field thrown balls that hit the ground before they reach first base, and to quickly decide to abandon first when necessary to catch an especially bad throw. Since the first baseman mostly stands close to his base, his mobility and throwing skills do not need to be high; good hitters who are slow of foot are often placed at first base. In some cases, an aging third baseman or
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and quicker reflexes, since the third baseman may be standing only 90 feet from the batter and sometimes much less; thus, he has much less time to react to hit balls than the shortstop or second baseman. The third baseman must also have a strong arm since the throw from his position to first base is the longest on the infield.
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This requires speed to get to hit balls before they pass beyond reach, dexterity to successfully field the balls, and agility to field the balls in a position that will allow a strong throw to first base. Second basemen and shortstops also share responsibility for tagging runners who are attempting to
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In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. Although there are many rules to baseball, in general the team playing offense tries to score runs by batting balls into the field that enable runners to make a complete circuit of the four bases. The
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The third baseman primarily fields balls hit and bunted down the third base line, but can also attempt to reach balls hit between second and third base. Although the third baseman does not need to cover as great a range as the shortstop or second baseman, the position requires greater anticipation
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The second baseman and the shortstop are the middle infielders. The second baseman tries to field balls hit between first and second base. The shortstop does the same between second and third base. Once fielded, the balls must be thrown to the first baseman before the batter can reach first base.
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second base. Because a shortstop has a longer throw to make to first base, he must reach the ball faster and throw harder than the second baseman. For this reason, the shortstop must have the best fielding skills of any infielder. Because of the spectrum of skills required by a middle infielder,
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The first baseman is largely responsible for keeping one foot on first base while catching throws from the other three infielders before the batter can reach first base. These throws are often hurried and thus off-target. A player who is tall and has long arms may be a good candidate for first
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There are nine defensive positions on a baseball field. The part of the baseball field closest to the batter (shown in the diagram as light brown) is known as the "infield" (as opposed to the "outfield", the part of the field furthest from the batter, shown in the diagram as green.)
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team playing in the field tries to prevent runs by catching the ball before it hits the ground, by tagging runners with the ball while they are not touching a base, or by throwing the ball to first base before the batter who hit the ball can run from home plate to first base.
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emphasis is usually put on defensive skills rather than offensive ability—good defensive skills and a mediocre bat are often considered more important than a good bat and poor defensive skills.
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player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base.
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who has lost some speed but is still a good hitter will be moved to first base to keep his bat in the line-up.
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This article is about the baseball and softball positions. For the cricket positions, see
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The first baseman and the third baseman are the corner infielders.
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157:The infield is composed of four positions:
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508:Right fielder (9/RF)
488:Third baseman (5/3B)
478:First baseman (3/1B)
238:Cambridge Dictionary
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549:Batting order (1–9)
498:Left fielder (7/LF)
717:Baseball positions
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279:Baseball positions
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39:This article
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686:Injured list
600:Power hitter
564:Pinch runner
559:Pinch hitter
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48:Please help
43:verification
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618:Non-players
377:Ground ball
234:"infielder"
163:second base
65:"Infielder"
442:Outfielder
220:References
214:outfielder
167:third base
159:first base
106:March 2023
76:newspapers
522:Offensive
461:by number
437:Infielder
410:Defensive
334:Setup man
171:shortstop
169:(3B) and
153:Positions
130:infielder
711:Category
583:by style
382:Fly ball
360:by style
351:Swingman
319:Reliever
287:Pitchers
134:baseball
681:Battery
676:Captain
669:Related
635:Coaches
630:Manager
532:by role
524:players
432:Catcher
427:Pitcher
420:by type
412:players
372:Control
302:Starter
295:by role
90:scholar
650:Batboy
625:Umpire
544:Runner
539:Batter
387:Switch
339:Closer
312:Opener
165:(2B),
161:(1B),
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367:Power
193:steal
181:Roles
132:is a
97:JSTOR
83:books
69:news
307:Ace
128:An
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