quote:Originally posted by zombywoof:
Actually, I think first base is very demanding and the difference of a warm body vs a legitimate first baseman is night and day and affects the entire infield.
First base is IMO, way underrated and the little things that a first baseman does well makes a huge difference.
I want an athlete at first base who can move around and play the position. If you're a stiff out there with poor footwork and all, you hurt the team but if you can hit, you DH.
In no way am I down playing the vital importance and piece of mind a top tier first baseman provides. I only said that the position doesn't require AS good an athlete as do the other IF positions. Surely you can agree that, generally speaking, it's easier to turn an average player and into a servicable first baseman than to take the same player and turn him into a servicable MIFer or 3bman?
I suppose the intent of my original post was to juxtapose the importance of a typical power hitting NCAA or MLB first baseman vs. that of a HS first baseman; given the difference in DH rules, that's not really a fair comparison. I'm embarrassed to say that after being DH'd for for 4 years of college, it never dawned on me that I was the only player who could have been be DH'd for.