In baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 and softball

Softball

Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

, while there are nine named fielding positions

Baseball positions

There are 9 fielding positions in baseball. Each position conventionally has an associated number which is used to score putouts...

, players may move around freely. The positioning for the nine positions is very flexible, although they all have regular depths—distances from home plate

Home Plate

Home Plate is the fifth album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1975 .-Track listing:#"What Do You Want the Boy to Do?" – 3:19#"Good Enough" – 2:56#"Run Like a Thief" – 3:02...

, and sometimes lateral positioning. A shift means that a player is playing in a noticeably different location than the norm for his positioning. A fielder who is playing shallow or in is playing closer to home plate, while a player playing deep is playing farther from home plate than normal.

Regular terms are used for some positionings, for example, double play depth is used when there is a force play

Force play

In baseball, a force is a situation when a baserunner is compelled to vacate his time-of-pitch base—and thus try to advance to the next base—because the batter became a runner. A runner at first base is always forced to attempt to advance to second base when the batter becomes a runner...

 at second base. This means the shortstop

Shortstop

Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...

 and second baseman

Second baseman

Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...

 are playing slightly closer to second base and sometimes a little bit shallower. This position makes it easier to turn the double play. Bringing the corners in means the first and third baseman are both playing in, this will often be used with runners at third base or when a bunt is anticipated. The disadvantage of these defensive shifts is that they make more room for the hitter to hit the ball through the gaps for a base hit.

Sometimes in the bottom half of the ninth inning (or later), when a team has a man on third base and less than two outs, the defending team will pull the outfields in very far, almost creating three extra infielders. This is sometimes known as do or die depth.

There are also some very irregular positionings. For example, versus excellent left-handed pull-hitters like Ted Williams

Ted Williams

Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...

, David Ortiz

David Ortiz

David Américo Ortiz Arias , known as David Ortiz, nicknamed "Big Papi", is a Dominican American professional baseball player who is currently a free agent. Previously, Ortiz played with the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox...

, and Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard

Ryan James Howard is a Major League Baseball first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. Nicknamed "The Big Piece", Howard stands and weighs . He bats and throws left-handed....

, teams will move more players to the right side of the field. They sometimes play with the shortstop behind or even to the right of second base. The second baseman may simply move to the right, in which case this just qualifies as a shift, or he might move deeper into shallow right field—this particular formation is called the wishbone defense, because of the shape the shortstop, first baseman

First baseman

First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...

, second baseman, and right fielder make. This shift was in fact first employed against Ted Williams in the 1940s, as thought up by then-Indians

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

 manager

Manager (baseball)

In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

 Lou Boudreau

Lou Boudreau

Louis "Lou" Boudreau was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970...

, and may have significantly impacted his career average. The shift, as it is commonly known, is also frequently used against other lefty sluggers such as Jim Thome

Jim Thome

James Howard "Jim" Thome is a Major League Baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies. He is the eighth player to hit 600 home runs in the major leagues. He is widely considered a future Hall of Famer.-Cleveland Indians :...

, Jason Giambi

Jason Giambi

Jason Gilbert Giambi is an American professional baseball first baseman with the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball.He was the American League MVP in 2000 while with the Oakland Athletics, and is a five-time All-Star who has led the American League in walks four times, in on base percentage...

, and Travis Hafner

Travis Hafner

Travis Lee Hafner is a left-handed hitting designated hitter for the Cleveland Indians of the American League Central Division. His nickname, "Pronk", was given to him by former teammate Bill Selby during spring training of when people sometimes referred to him as "The Project" and other times...

.