The addition of the shortstop eliminated the large gaps on the left side of the field and brought the score down dramatically. In addition to fielding ground balls, the shortstop position must catch fly balls and turn double plays from the second baseman and other infielders.
When looking at a box score, or a graphic about baseball positions, you may see that shortstop is numbered 6. The shortstop position was not invented until after all the positions had already been created. Adding this extra position essentially added a new number to the infield. Instead of renumbering all positions, it was easier to call the shortstop 6 and leave all base positions as normal.
Renumbering of the outfield took place once 9 players were added to the field to finalize all of the personnel on the field. Shortstop is one of the hardest infield positions to play because most balls are hit toward the shortstop. Shortstops are oftentimes the most athletic player on the field, along with the best glove for fielding ground balls.
The third baseman has to protect the foul line, meaning the shortstop has to range further to his left and his right. Back then, the weight of the baseballs was so light that outfielders had a difficult time throwing the ball into the infield. The shortstop was created to primarily serve as a cutoff from the outfielders to the infielders. As baseballs became heavier and of higher quality, the shortstop became an infield position, but the name stuck.
As the modern-day game of baseball becomes more advanced, some of the old prototypes of certain positions are coming into question. For example, catcher was always thought to be a defense-first position.
Teams were typically willing to sacrifice offensive production from their catcher if he was a high-level defensive player. Now, with more importance than ever placed on power hitting and less emphasis placed on stealing bases, more teams than ever are willing to sacrifice defensive ability for offensive production from their catcher. The shortstop position, however, has mostly remained the same over recent years when it comes to protype.
Very few teams are willing to sacrifice defensive ability at shortstop for offensive prowess. If a shortstop has a lot of offensive potential, but his defense is not up to par, then he is often moved to one of the other infield positions. With that being said, more shortstops than ever are great hitters as well as great defenders. Several years ago, it was thought that shortstops had to be smaller, quicker players. Cal Ripken Jr. Ripken stood 6 foot 4 inches and displayed an offensive production at the position that had not been seen in a long time.
If both the shortstop and third baseman are attempting to field the same batted ball, the shortstop will often call off the third baseman. Shortstops are an integral component of turning double plays. On balls hit to the left side of the infield, a shortstop must cleanly field the ball and accurately throw it to the second baseman covering the second-base bag.
Another reason is due to this player originally being a cut-off man between the outfield and the bases. I'm the owner of Baseball Training World. I live in Denver, Colorado and I enjoy playing baseball on two different adult baseball teams in the surrounding area.
Every once in a while in a baseball game, baserunners have to dodge a batted ball that is hit directly at them. The other day I was writing an article on different youth baseball programs and I quickly came to realize that there is not much information on the web about what different types of youth baseball Skip to content In one of my recent baseball games, I was in charge of keeping track of the book for an inning. Shortstop Began as a Fourth Outfielder The shortstop position is not played in the same spot today as it was when it was first created.
Why is it Called Shortstop?
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