My Beef with the Baseball Shift

I recently attended an O's vs. Gnats game and was reminded of one of the most aggravating things in Major League Baseball. I am talking about the shift that teams play for left-handed pull hitters. This is the case when the third baseman plays where the shortstop usually would, shortstop moves to play right of second base and the second baseman plays in shallow right field. This of course leaves the left field line wide open. If this defense were played against Ichiro he would hit .500 every year. So why does this bug me so much? Here's why.

For one thing, in order for the batter to hit into the shift your pitcher must work on the inside half of the plate. This plays into power hitters hands. It's easier to hit home runs to the pull side.

But, the most aggravating part of this is the hitters obvious problem with fundamental baseball. Can't these guys get their hands on Tom Emanski's instructional videos? If they would just stop being so cocky and take some time during BP and work on drag bunting down the third baseline their batting averages wouldsky rocket. Even, Mo Vaughn could beat out a bunt for a base hit with not third baseman close to the line. Even attempting this once would require the team to shift back to a normal defense and re-open the normal gaps these players would love to spray the ball in.

What about even concentrating on driving the ball the other way? These ballplayers are strong enough to drive a ball the other way even if its not on the outer half. This was made obvious when I saw Ryan Zimmerman drive an inside fastball over the right-center field wall Friday night. Why not use this same approach and spray the ball to left field? Pitchers make mistakes, you can get a pitch to handle.

Players need to go back to fundamental baseball. It would be a good thing for the kids that look up to them so much to learn from.