Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four places on a baseball field which must be touched in order by a base runner before he can score a run for that player's team.[1] A second baseman is the baseball player who guards second base.[1] Also called second bagger,[1] the second baseman often has quick hands and feet. He needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly. He must be able to make the turn on a double play. Also, shortstops and second basemen are usually right-handed.[2] This makes it easier to turn a double play. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the second baseman is assigned the number 4.
Current second basemen include Chase Utley, Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia, Orlando Hudson, Aaron Hill and Ben Zobrist.
National Baseball Hall of Fame second basemen
The following second basemen have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum:[3]
- Rod Carew *
- Eddie Collins
- Bobby Doerr
- Johnny Evers
- Nellie Fox
- Frankie Frisch
- Charlie Gehringer
- Joe Gordon
- Frank Grant
- Billy Herman
- Rogers Hornsby
- Nap Lajoie
- Tony Lazzeri
- Bill Mazeroski
- Bid McPhee
- Joe Morgan
- Jackie Robinson **
- Ryne Sandberg
- Red Schoendienst
* Later played at first base
** Started his career at first base, then moved to second base
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Dickson, Paul (1999). The New Dickson baseball Dictionary: a cyclopedic reference to more than 7,000 words, names, phrases, and slang expressions that define the game, its heritage, culture, and variations. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 27.
- ↑ "From 1957 to 2007, Throws LH, Played: 2B, sorted by greatest PA in a single game". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
- ↑ "Baseball Hall of Fame Second Basemen". Baseball-Almanac.