The Backyard Batting Cage

If you have been watching the game of baseball, you might have trouble understanding the defensive positions.  Unlike other sports, baseball players play both offense and defense. There are 9 men playing on a baseball team in each game.  Occasionally, a man gets hurt and is replaced.  Pitchers  seldom last the entire game as the coach does not want to tire them out.  An exception is made if the pitcher is pitching a “no hitter” in which the other team cannot score against him.  This a coup for the pitcher and he remains in the game for the duration. 

In addition to the pitcher, there is also the catcher.  He stands behind the man batting and catches the ball.  The catcher is also in charge of trying to catch fly foul balls, which will count as an out as long as he catches them in play. 

Infielders include the first, second and third baseman as well as the short stop.  The Short stop stands between the second and third base and it is his job to get balls that get hit to the infield so that the basemen can stay put and tag men out who are running. 

Outfielders are left, right and center field.  They catch the balls that are popped up to the outfield, a common occurrence in professional baseball.  They have to know how to catch and should have a good arm to toss the ball into the infield so that the player can tag the man out.  The outfielder will usually toss the ball to the short stop if they are in the left or center field.  They often toss to the first baseman if they are in right field.  Coaches are standing close to the outfield players and will watch the play and instruct the player where to toss the ball.  The objective of baseball is to prevent the other team from advancing on the bases and making it to home plate.  So they want to get the player who is closest to home.  They will often let the man run to first if they can tag out the man going to third. 

Players warm up before defense by tossing the ball back an forth to one another.  Then they wait for the batting team to step up to the plate.  In the professional leagues, a player who fumbles or drops a ball is considered to be making an error and this goes against their record.  Baseball players have statistics that can often be spotted on the back of their baseball cards.   Most baseball players want to avoid having any errors on their stats.