Tiny Baseball Lessons: Position Series | Baseball Positions Starter Guide

Hey babes!

Welcome to the Tiny Baseball Lessons: Position Series! This episode is the introduction to the mini series, followed by episodes with a deep dive for each position.

Ever looked at a baseball field and wondered why everyone is standing where they are?

In this Tiny Baseball Lesson, we're breaking down the nine defensive positions in baseball in a way that's beginner-friendly, approachable, and definitely not too technical.

We'll cover:

• What each position actually does
• The different "personalities" of each position
• Why pitchers and catchers control so much of the game
• What makes shortstop one of the most challenging positions on the field
• Why third base is called the "hot corner"
• The differences between the infield and outfield
• Baseball’s position-number "secret code"

Whether you're brand new to baseball or just want a better understanding of what you're watching, this episode will help the game feel a little less intimidating and a lot more fun ~

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Transcript

0:00

Hey babe. Welcome to Baseball for Girls, where baseball meets soft girl energy. I'm Channel C and here we do baseball with heart, humanity, and a little humor. So whether you're brand new to the game or deep in your baseball era, you're in the right place. So grab something cozy, something. And let's get into today's episode. Hey babes! Welcome back to another episode of Baseball for Girls. Today I have another tiny baseball lesson for you, and I'll be explaining the different positions that are in baseball. So this was gonna be the first episode for a new mini-series that's gonna go through all the different positions, and today we'll just have a general overview just to get started, and then I'll have more episodes that are gonna be more of a deep dive into each position. So when I first started watching baseball, I had a general idea of like all the different positions, but I really didn't know like what the specific jobs of each position was, other than just to you know catch the ball and throw the ball, I don't know. So I think that having a better idea of what each position is doing allows you to one better understand the game, but also allows you to have a favorite position, and that is what is gonna connect you to the game even more. So I just wanted to make this a super beginner-friendly guide to baseball positions and not get super technical. So today we're gonna go over what each position does, the general vibe of that position, what to notice when you're watching, and the kind of like the personality that each position kind of has. So if baseball has ever felt like a bunch of people just kind of like standing around in the middle of a field, this episode is for you. Alright, so we're gonna start with the big picture. When we're looking at a baseball field during a game, there are nine defensive positions on the field at one time. And just as a side note, we know that defense are the players that are on the field, while offense are the batters that are coming up to plate. So we are talking about the nine defensive positions in baseball. So the players are kind of split into these different kinds of groups. So we have the pitcher, the catcher, the infield positions, and then outfield positions. So the infield is, you know, like the dirt area kind of closer to the pitcher, while the outfield is the grassy area that's kind of further back. So we're gonna start with the pitcher. I feel like that's an obvious place to start. So we know the pitcher is the guy that is just throwing the ball to the batter, but really the pitcher is controlling the entire emotional atmosphere of the game because if the pitcher is dominant, the stadium kind of calms down. But if the pitcher is struggling, it makes everyone super anxious. Pitchers are also highly specialized, some of them throw like really fast, and they're known for that. I'm thinking of Jacob Mazurowski right now, he's um like the hottest starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers. He has so many games where he's thrown more than 10 pitches over a hundred miles per hour. Ridiculous. But some other pitchers are more about movement, some are more on strategy, some pitchers are called like contact pitchers, where they are throwing so that the batter does hit the ball and gets out in a different way. So there are different kinds of pitchers, and that's why baseball fans talk about them constantly because they influence the game so much and they have so many different kinds of ways to play. So pitchers are also kind of divided into three groups. So we have starting pitchers and relief pitchers, which is then divided into just a relief pitcher versus a closing pitcher. So the starter obviously begins the game, and relievers come in later, and then the closer is the one who finishes the game. So the relievers are the pitchers that are in the bullpen. So if you ever hear like the bullpen blew it, that just means that the relief pitchers really struggled and gave up the lead somehow. The next position is the catcher. So we know the catcher is behind home plate, and catchers are actually like the therapist, the like manager, like bodyguard. Like they are really important for maintaining the general atmosphere of the defensive field. They are catching every pitch, they are communicating with the pitcher constantly, they call pitches, which just means that they are telling the pitcher what pitch to throw. They also have to watch any runners that are on base, and they have to protect home plate. So they are involved with literally every aspect of the game. And they're like squatting for like three hours, which honestly feels like completely ridiculous. So catchers are actually really considered to be very smart players because they have to think strategically literally the entire game. So next time you're watching baseball, maybe pay attention to the catcher and see how they are really directing how the game is going. Because honestly, they're quietly running the entire game. And then we have the infield positions. So there are four infield positions: first base, second base, shortstop, and third base. And each one of them has a very different vibe. So the first base is the position where a lot of throws end up because typically after a batter hits the ball, fielder is going to throw it to the first base in order to get that batter out. So the first basement has to have really good hands, really good flexibility, like being able to stretch to catch the ball while also keeping a foot on first base. And then you basically have to be aware of the game the entire time. So first base is really like a reliable anchor kind of energy. They are expected to catch every single ball that comes their way. Then the second baseman, they are usually quick and like agile. So for this position, they have to be quick at turning a double play, so getting multiple runners out at once, they have to have really quick reactions and they cover a lot of ground. Imagine the distance between first base and second base, and second base and third base. Granted, between second and third is a shortstop, but I'll get to that in a second. But the second baseman has to be very scrappy and like really athletic, so they're kind of like chaotic because they have to do so much, but like chaotic good, you know. And then moving on to the shortstop. So shortstop is considered to be one of the hardest defensive positions because they also have to cover a lot of ground and make really athletic plays. Like a lot of the coolest, like defensive highlights are gonna come from the shortstops. They are also typically like the star, they are usually really well known. Kids always want to be the shortstop when they grow up or in the little league, it's a very popular position because of how good you have to be in order to play it. And then for the third baseman. So third base is typically called the hot corner, and that's because if a ball gets hit towards third base, it's typically going very fast off the bat. I'm talking like a hundred miles per hour just straight at the third baseman. So the third baseman has to be really quick and has to have strong arms because if that 100 miles per hour ball gets past him, that means it's gonna probably go all the way towards the wall, and that's gonna do some damage potentially. So it's actually a pretty important position for those kinds of moments, and then we have the outfield, so that's made up of left field, center field, and right field. And just to orient us, left field is towards the third baseman while the right field is towards the first baseman, and then center is I guess closer to second baseman. So these players cover the huge grassy area that's you know behind the diamond, and their job is really just to like not let the ball get past them. They don't want the ball to touch the wall or go over the wall, um, because that would potentially be a home run or at least a ground roll double. And a ground roll double is just when a ball bounces from the grass and into the stands, so then the outfielder is not able to actually get the ball because it kind of just disappeared. That's just a ground rule double, so that way you know the runner can't just keep running all the way around just because the ball disappeared, you know. So they are trying to prevent those kinds of things from happening. And so the center fielder typically covers the most ground, they are often extremely fast and very athletic. They are also considered to be the captain of the outfield, and they usually call off other outfielders for catches. So if there's multiple outfielders that are running towards a ball, the outfielders have to defer to the center fielder. He will always take priority and will tell you whether or not to catch the ball. And then for left and right field, so these corner outfielders still need to be super speedy and strong for defense, but they also have to have very strong throwing arms because they are throwing from a very far distance, so they need to be super quick, throw really fast, and make the plays to be truly effective. Outfielders also produce some of the prettiest kind of moments in baseball. They are also like most often in the like baseball highlights because they are usually the ones that are doing the diving catches, they are jumping in the air, hitting walls, and they're doing dramatic home run robberies. They are the ones that are creating baseball cinema. Okay, so now that you have a general idea of all the positions, the next time you're watching a game, just pick one position to pay attention to for that game, or maybe just for one inning, and really just notice what that position is doing and start to really get a feel for what those positions are bringing to the game. And really, that is how baseball will really start to click. And before we wrap up, I just wanted to give you one little baseball thing that used to confuse me, and that is that every position has a number. These numbers are used as a shorthand in order to record plays. So the pitcher is position one, the catcher is position two, first base is position three, second base is position four, third base is position five, and then shortstop is position six, then the left field is position seven, center field is position eight, and then right field is position nine. So if you ever hear them say like a six-four-three double play, that means the shortstop, position six, threw the ball to the second baseman, position four, and then the second baseman threw the ball to the first baseman, so position three. And the reason it's a double play is typically because there are two runners, and one of the runners was at second base, and the other runner was trying to get to first base. So when the shortstop, position six, throws it to the second baseman, position four, that gets that runner out, so that is the first out, and then when the second baseman, position four, throws the ball to the first baseman, position three, that gets out the runner that was trying to get to first base, so that will be the second out, and that is a six four three double play. So basically, we use these numbers in baseball as kind of like a little secret code, but obviously you don't really need to memorize it, but just when you hear those kinds of numbers in context, just know that it's related to the positions. It took me a while, and honestly, sometimes I still write it down to help me remember because it can take a while to memorize something like that, but honestly, six four three is the one you're gonna hear the most, and sometimes when they're like, Oh, it was a five, three, one or something, I'm like, Alright, who did what now? And so you don't really need to memorize everything, just being able to recognize what the announcers are talking about will take you a long way. Okay, so one of the coolest things about baseball is that every position kind of feels important in a different way. So some of these positions are super flashy, like a shortstop, some are more subtle, like maybe like the right fielder, some are more leadership roles like the center fielder, some are more chaos controls like third and second basemen. So all of them come together to create the rhythm of the game. And once you start recognizing the position, baseball suddenly stops looking random, and you actually start to see the structure underneath everything. And that's when it really becomes fun and enjoyable. So hopefully, this helped make baseball feel a little less intimidating and a little more familiar. And like I mentioned, you really don't need to memorize everything, especially immediately, but just getting an idea of how things work is really going to help you understand it in the long run because baseball is really one of those things that slowly unfolds the more time you spend with it. And that is why I love it so much. So that is all I have for you today. Thank you for hanging out with me in the softest corner of sports media. I hope you enjoyed this episode. And if you did, go ahead and share it with someone else who doesn't know anything about baseball and give them a quick tiny baseball lesson. I'll see you next time. Bye bye.