Shortstop

When I play shortstop, I stand just about half way between second and third base (a little bit closer to second). Most batters are right handed. This means that most of the balls hit on the ground are going to come towards my side of the infield. I have to be extremely quick on my feet to get into position to get the ball. I need to get it quickly and throw to first base as fast as I can, because I have a long throw from my side of the field. In baseball, shortstops are frequently the best athletes on the team because so much is asked of them.

Shortstops have many jobs. We talked about fielding balls hit to them. But sometimes they also need to be ready to take a throw at second base if the ball is hit to the first or second base side of the field. We'll cover that in "forcing runners."

Sometimes, shortstops will also need to be ready to take a throw at third base. For example, if the batter hits a slow roller that the third-baseman has to get, the shortstop needs to run to the third base bag to take a throw if needed to get a runner out. (again, see "forcing runners")