First baseman
The first baseman , abbreviated 1B (German: first baseman ) is a field position in baseball . It is taken by the player who is on first base . In the official baseball notation, the first baseman is "number 3".
The first baseman has the task of covering first base and catching balls thrown by fellow players before opposing baserunners reach first base. First basemen are therefore often at the end of a double play . Since first basemen often have to perform acrobatic trapping maneuvers, they are ideally tall and flexible. He also wears a particularly large baseball glove that has no individual fingers, but rather is shaped like a large trowel. A first baseman must master two important maneuvers:
- Short hop: to accept a beaten baseball shortly after hitting the ground in the ascending movement ("short hop") as a half volley instead of waiting for the descending movement ("long hop"). This is difficult because of the uneven ground, but it saves valuable time.
- Tag play: diving after a baseball has been beaten and touching the opposing baserunner with the ball in hand ("tag") before reaching base.
There are many left-handers among first basemen because they can pick up a ball and throw it to second or third base (i.e. to the left) in the same movement.