But, my little carousel cooked hot dog, looks are deceiving. Like many things in baseball, what looks to be a non-happening part of the game actually has a lot going on.
There are three outfield positions—right, center and left. The outfield is that area between the running track and the back wall. There’s a lot of grass to cover. Outfielders are often 250 to 300 feet from homeplate, and they have to be ready to cover large distances and be able to throw long distances with deadly accuracy. Outfielders also have to have good instincts. Batters are not trying to hit the ball to the outfielder. They are trying to hit the ball between or beyond the outfielders because they want to make it to base. So outfielders need to go where the ball is. To be a good fielder, players need to be able to judge where the ball is going to go based on the pitch and the batter’s tendencies; need to be able to catch over their head running toward the fence;
able to run up on the ball; ability to see the ball falling out of the sky; and ability to fly through the air with one of those spine chilling flights parallel to the ground with glove extended. They also need to be able to jump up high against the back wall and pluck that baby out of the air to rob the batter of a glorious hit. Right Fielder Ichiro Suzuki is famous for climbing the back wall like Spiderman in order to prevent a ball from leaving the park.Now different people have different opinions about fielders. (Really, in baseball? People have strong opinions?) Some people feel the right fielder needs the strongest arm because he is the farthest from third base, while some people feel the center fielder needs the strongest arm because he tends to field more balls. The left fielder often has the weakest arm of the three, but he still needs some chops. Remember that for the most part (American League pitchers and designated hitters excepted) baseball players play both offense (batting) and defense (pitching, catching and fielding). Being a great hitter is not enough. You have to do both.
The center fielder needs the best combination of speed and throwing distance. Because he covers the most territory, he catches a high percentage of the fly balls. The center fielder also has a role in coordinating the outfield when there is some question about who is going to catch the ball. (This is to avoid those head cracking collisions we talked about in Blood and Guts. )
But the outfield does more than just wait in their own special corner of the world to catch fly balls. Outfielders cover the area back of the bases when plays are in the infield. For example, the center fielder backs up second base in situations such as when a runner tries to steal second base, and the catcher throws to second. The center fielder moves forward to back up the second baseman in case he misses the catch or there is a bad throw.
The right fielders back up first base (including bunts) for balls hit to the right side or for throws from the catcher. The right fielder also backs up second base for balls hit to the left side of the field. Right fielders need a good eye because a ball hit to right field has a tendency to curve toward the foul line and right fielders have to adjust.
The left field backs up third base for throws from the catcher or pitcher. I recently saw a great move by Jason Bay, the player who replaced Manny Ramirez in the left field for the Boston Red Sox. Mike Lowe missed a poorly thrown ball to third and out of nowhere comes Bay on the crowd side of the foul line to field the ball and prevent any additional bases. Even the announcers were impressed and joked that Manny would have never done that. Manny, being Manny, didn’t move for no one. Though in Manny’s defense, he did pull off a great catch of a ball back in May before it went into the stand, ran up the back wall, high-fived a fan and got the ball back in time to Dustin Pedroia to get a double play. Manny definitely had entertainment value. Here is a link to that video if you haven’t seen it.http://soxanddawgs.com/?p=4240
Some of the different ball fields present a challenge to fielders as well. The infamous left field wall at Fenway was built because the ballpark didn’t have enough room for a traditional left field, so Fenway built it higher than normal. The “Green Monster” is a bear for fielders when the ball bounces off that back. Other outfields as well have crooks, nannies and some nasty little corners. Infields are standard throughout the leagues, but there are slight variations in ball parks when it comes to the outfields. So in Cleveland, both the back right and left field walls measure 325 feet and 410 feet at center field. But in funky Fenway Park, the left field wall is 310 (but that’s where the Green Monster is) and the right field foul pole is 302 feet out, but center field is a mighty 420 at its farthest distance from home plate. Fielders must adjust to the different parks, and they hate it when a fair ball goes into the corner. If a ball bounces fair on the field but then bounces out of the park, it is an automatic double.
The outfield may not always be the most exciting place in the world, but there’s no sleeping out in the outfield. Your glory catch --the one where you throw yourself like a rocket through the air four feet above the ground, grab for the ball, belly flop on the ground then somersault three times, then flip to your feet with the ball snow-coned in your glove raised to the crowd in victory with the television announcer shouting, “I don’t believe it!” as the station replays the catch over and over again—is just around the corner. I think outfielders must live for that day. And then they live for first dibs in the hot-tub back at the clubhouse.
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