Comments on: Sweet Fielding First Basemen

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:59:55 +0000

Glad to have stumbled upon this ode to JT (via the whole pitch-tipping debacle.) I had the pleasure of watching JT play for many years and have always thought he oozed the essence of the game. The attitude, the god-like defensive abilities, and the occasional dinger into McCovey Cove. Old number 6 will forever be my yard stick for a good ballplayer, first basemen or not.

P.S. I’m hoping to see him manage a team one of these days.

By: Brent Mayne

Brent Mayne — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:53:01 +0000

Hey Gerry, good points. As to your question about a list of catchers with no-no’s, etc., check out this great website http://www.baseballcatchers.com/. If it’s about catchers and you can’t find it there, you won’t find it anywhere.

By: Gerry

Gerry — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:43:19 +0000

I agree completely.

Good defensive 1st basemen save a ton of infield throwing errors. Just like catchers seldom get credit for calling a great game (where’s the list of catchers who’ve caught no-nos or perfect games?), 1st basemen don’t get much credit for taking throws from gold glove winning infielders.

And given the unique challenges of (1) fielding bad throws while trying to keep a foot glued to the bag, and (2) having to field bad throws from pitchers (and a few catchers) trying to pick off a runner, and (3) having to field hits to the right side of the infield after coming off the bag, I would argue that 1st base was the second most technically challenging position on the field (after catching of course). Someone wrote that the 1st baseman handles the ball more often than anyone else except, again, the catcher. I guess that’s true too.

Thanks for elevating the “prestige” of the position just a tad.

BTW, a guy named Keith Hernandez is said to have been a pretty good first-bagger himself. Wasn’t known for his hitting, but the guy sure was an innovator.

Keep up the great commentary!!