eachbatterandplacingthefieldersatthebestpositionwheretheball
havebettersuccessrateoffieldingbyanalyzingathittingdistributionsof
ifitwasafullseason.^6 Thenhowshouldweapplythisstrategy?Wecan
everythreeplateappearances.Morethan 60000 totalshiftscouldhappen
toabout 47000 attempts.In60-game-seasonin2020,shiftswereusedfor
shiftswereusedin2013,butthenumberhasalmostsevenfoldin2019,
defensiveshiftsbecamepopularinthemajorleague.Only 7000 total
Decadeslater,asdataofbattingdirectionstartedtobecollected,
Indiansplacedtheirfielderstotheright.^5
wasaleft-handbatterwhohadanextreme-pull-hittingstance,and
base.Thisisknownasthefirstactiveuseofdefensiveshift.TedWilliams
sevenofCleveland’seightfielderspositionedontherightsideofsecond
eightRBIs.Nextday,whenWilliamssteppedupforhisfirstat-bat,
lefthandbatterTedWilliamshadhit4-for-5withthreehomersand
Shiftingstrategyhasexistedforquitealongtime.In 1946 July,Boston’s
Image5- 3 :ExtremeDefenseShift