Playing Third Base
Third baseman is No. 5: the hot corner, fast hands and a strong arm.
How it actually works. Play even with the bag or a step back, and move in when a bunt is possible. The first step is forward on a bunt and lateral on a hard grounder, with a quick drop step on a line drive over your head. Set your feet before the long throw across the diamond. Call the ball loudly on bunts and talk with the shortstop about cutoffs.
Why it is done, and when it is wrong. They call it the hot corner because the ball gets there before you can think. A third baseman lives on reflexes and courage, and on reading the hitter before the pitch, because a right handed pull hitter and a bunter need him in completely different places. Protecting the line matters most late in close games, when a ball down the line is a double instead of a single.
What people get wrong about it. Playing too deep and giving up the bunt and the slow roller, sitting back on bunts instead of charging, and rushing the long throw so it sails over first.
At Little League and travel ball. Youth third basemen play too deep almost every time. Move him in. Most youth hitters cannot hit it hard enough to beat him, and the bunt and slow roller are the plays that actually happen.
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