by Roddy Harris

Created on: March 05, 2009

Playing the outfield in baseball is not a simple task. When a person starts out playing baseball as a youth they are normally put in the outfield. This is the place reserved for the poorer skilled players. The reason is simple in the beginning levels of baseball most balls hit by the batter are hit in the infield. Putting your best players in the infield makes sense because that is where the action is. As players grow and mature they learn the skill of hitting and more balls are hit to the outfield making the outfield position more important. Players also mature and learn how to catch the fly balls and the ground balls in the outfield. A player may be able to catch all of the balls hit to them but does that make them a good outfielder? No it does not because there is a lot more to playing the outfield in baseball than catching the ball.

If you can catch a ball hit to you in the outfield that is good but not many balls are hit directly at an outfielder. Many balls are hit to your field that you will need to track down in order to catch. You need to know how to track these balls in order to catch them. Playing each of the outfield positions is different. The way the ball leaves the bat is read differently by each outfield position. The outfielder in each field must know how the ball will come off the bat to their field. The ball will come differently to the outfielder depending on which side of the plate the hitter is hitting from. It is the knowledge of how the ball comes off the bat that allows the outfielder to know how to play his specific field. I read in the paper that a team picked up a journeyman outfielder and that it was a good move because he could play all three outfield positions. Most baseball outfielders play only one of the outfield positions. They work very hard at that specific position and become very good playing that field.

Once you have chosen which of the outfield positions you want to play it is important to practice catching balls hit to your field. You need to have people hit balls both right and left handed sides of the plate so you can learn how to follow flight of the ball. The outfielder needs to learn how the ball trails off the bat from a batter. Balls hit by right handed batters will trail differently than those hit by left handed hitters.

Another important point for an outfielder is to stay in the game. Watch outfielders in the major leagues and you will see that they have adopted a ready position when the ball is pitched. They

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