In a season, a third baseman will have about as many chances to throw a man out as I will to operate on people.
The first baseman, who learned about hitting and leadership from his former teammate Mark McGwire, batted.333 with 43 homers, 137 runs batted in and 137 walks.
The Yankees inched closer to a one-year contract with the free-agent third baseman Robin Ventura for about $5 million yesterday, which would solve one of the team's myriad questions in what should be a frenetic off-season.
"We were in disbelief," Dot Richardson, the second baseman, said about the losing streak.
Just the other day, Mike Lowell, the Red Sox third baseman, talked about how much he admired Derek Jeter, the Yankees shortstop.
If Reyes is on third when Delgado is batting, he salivates as the third baseman relocates about 40 feet to the left to play Delgado to pull.
They station first baseman Todd Zeile about eight feet from the bag and in front of the base runner, sometimes obstructing the runner's view of the pitcher.
Torre also plans to talk to the left-handed-hitting first baseman Nick Johnson about trying the outfield, and almost certainly this stems from the fact that either Justice or O'Neill -- or perhaps both -- may be restricted to pinch-hitting.
The Dodgers continued dialogue with Minnesota about second baseman Brian Dozier, with Detroit about second baseman Ian Kinsler and with the Chicago White Sox about third baseman Todd Frazier.
"It was just a situation where I listened to my instincts when it comes to a third baseman, so much about starting a triple play is about positioning and being in the right place at the right time," explains Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, who scored a triple play in a game against the Florida Marlins in the spring of 2000.
He already beats out a good number of bunts, even though third basemen play about 50 feet from the plate, Sheaffer said.
