Assume the position

Another Tuesday, another fine evening for baseball and, boy, were we ever hot. No, I don’t mean hot due to our impeccable playing skills, although some can’t help being hot…on occasion. Some may be hot in general, but that could also be due to a bit of self delusion, but no harm, no foul. Actually, quite a few fouls. But you know what I mean, it was hot, damn hot and most were simply hot due to the extreme temperature. Still, a number still managed to exemplify alternative modes of hotness out on the field but, if you take it all together, we were all hot, one way or another. You might disagree but I refuse to get in a heated discussion over it. Couple of teams won, a couple lost. Insert usual baseball details here. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Moving on. In the continuing series on the basics of baseball, let’s take a moment and consider the various positions we may find ourselves in. If you are taking the field, it may help in determining what type of performance might be expected of you when assuming a certain position. Pitcher. Where everything begins before it starts, with the pitcher tossing the ball to the batter. Belonging to the same team as the batter, it is their responsibility to give the batter a good ball to hit. In theory. Judging by the mixed results, it is perhaps not that ironic that a pitcher is also something that is usually filled with liquids. Things that make you go ‘hmmm’. Catcher. Recipient of the strikes thrown by the pitcher, should be idle most of the time. Again, in theory. Other responsibilities also include being the last person able to keep runner from scoring, by catching the ball with their foot firmly implanted on home plate. A special position, not ‘park close to the building’ special, but special as they are the only one with permission to touch home plate. The rest of us may just be called special for completely different reasons.

Base players. Although similar in sound to members of a band, their actual goal is to disrupt the harmony of the runners, those trying to make it to base, be it either first, second or third, by tagging them or simply touching the bag when there is a force play. These base persons can also play in tandem, causing not only a single out but two or more, by throwing to another one of their fellow (gender neutral term) base players. This requires a lot of skill and speed. Accordingly, we don’t see a lot of them. Shortstop. A baseless individual, free floats amongst the bases, usually settling in between second and third. Responsibilities include keeping the ball from escaping to the outfield (in conjunction with those who have base) and covering for base persons who have strayed too far from their position. Usually a better glove than most, it is recommended batters are best to avoid this person. However, in our league, this statement might also be baseless like the position and, even if not, there is probably more emphasis on the ‘usually’ part.

Fielders. Left, right or centre. Centre aside, it is not the left or right of the fielder, but the left or right of the umpire facing the field. Position can also be used to describe political leanings, as most will be to the left or right of centre but, in baseball, it is normally left to the centre to keep the field operating in the right. On a side note, when someone refers to you as as being ‘way out in left field’, they may not be referencing the position you play. Especially not in our league. Not with our motley crew, in any event. Rovers. Just because we can’t have enough players on the field limiting the batter’s success at reaching base, we throw in two more, a left rover and a right rover. If you are ‘way out in left field’, you are probably neither of these, as their normal position is between the outfield and infield, mid-range, to field those short fly balls and to stop hit balls from going deep, keeping batters to single bases instead of doubles or triples or even home runs. However, as with most, they are not always successful in this endeavour. What makes the game more interesting. They also move about, based on how the batter hits. This can be called a shift, even though most would not be classified as shifty. Photographer. Just to confuse things, we occasionally throw an additional person out on the field, with no fixed position. You can simply ignore the person in the neon orange, Italian mesh muscle shirt, difficult as it may be at times. Those are all the positions that make up the fielding team. And, for good cause, we also add in an umpire. We may all be adults, but that doesn’t mean we might not all benefit from a third party being involved, an impartial judge, someone to keep us all in line. A babysitter, if you prefer. Tough gig, which is why he gets paid to be there while the rest of us have to pay to play. At times, think he is simply saving up for a new pair of glasses, but that can be another story. Each position is designed to help make the fielding team look good or, at least, better. Although, in a lot of cases, we would have more success at just being good looking rather than strive to look good. There is always the dream, though. In any event, failure can be underrated, can be a great learning experience and is usually way more fun than those boring attributes of continued, unadulterated success. That would be my position.