Los animales

A traditional baseball team has nine positions. Four infielders are placed generally close and equidistant across the bases in order to field ground balls and line drives. These four infielders arereferred to as the first baseman, second baseman, third baseman and shortstop. These infielders usually do not play directly on the bases, but they scramble back to them when the ball is put in play.This is done so that they can cover the most ground. Most of the time, the third baseman and shortstop cover the left side of the infield while the first and second basemen cover the right. Theshortstop and second baseman are very important positions because they are essential to completing double plays up the middle. All four infield positions require very quick reflexes in case a sharp linedrive comes their way. They also need to have accurate arms and baseball instincts so that they can retire speedy baserunners who try to beat out ground balls. Three outfielders serve to catch fly ballsand track anything that gets through the infield so as to keep hitters from getting too far around the bases. There is a left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder. These three outfielders oftenhave good speed so as to track fly balls or chase down balls that roll into the gaps between them. 

It is the pitcher’s responsibility to throw strikes and strike the hitter out. Alternatively, thepitcher can try to make the batter put the ball in play so that the aforementioned infielders and outfielders can attempt to retire the batter on the basepaths or with a catch. The catcher has theresponsibility of working in a unique relationship with the pitcher. He often calls the type of pitch that should be thrown and tries to ensure his pitcher is calm. The catcher and pitcher arecollectively referred to as the ‘battery’ because they are what keep the team running. It takes a collective effort from all nine defensive positions for a team to succeed. Poor defence will spell disaster...