Baseball Positions & Roles

Series Summary

Baseball is a sport played with a bat and a ball. In baseball, there are two teams of nine players each, and the goal of is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged ninety feet apart at the corners of a diamond. Offensive players take turns hitting while the defense tries to stop them from scoring runs by getting hitters out in a number of different ways. A player on offense can stop at any of the bases and try to score on a teammate's hit ball. The teams switch between offense and defense whenever the team on defense records three outs. One turn on offense for each team makes an inning, and nine innings make up a professional game. The team with the most runs at the end of the game is the winner.

There are nine positions players out on a baseball field, and they all have a role and responsibilities. In this free video series, our expert will show you how to play pitcher catcher, first, second, and third base, shortstop, left, right, and center field. In addition, the players who aren't in the game have responsibilities as well. You'll learn about utility men, relief pitchers, closers, and pinch hitters. So, whether you're the starting shortstop or riding the pine, there's a number of things you can do to prepare for your role as a baseball player.

Video Transcript

"Baseball is a very simple game, but it can also be very complex when you get into the details. That's what we're going to do in this next segment. We're going to talk about the various positions and their responsibilities. To be effective, a team has to be function like a well-oiled machine. For example, if the ball is hit to right field and the second baseman has to pull out to cut the throw off as it comes in, your short stop has to shift over and cover second base while your third baseman moves into position just about to shortstop to back him up in case of an errant throw. Every single pitch, every single swing, every single hit, every single player on the field has a specific strategy that he or she needs to follow. Has a certain responsibility. We're going to talk about each one of those in depth. From first base to second base to short stop to the catcher to the pitcher, the left fielder, the right fielder, and the center fielder. They've all got individual responsibilities and each one depends on the actions of the other. We'll cover that in our next segment and that'll be our introduction to the positions. "