When did fielding in baseball start getting referred to as "defense"? And hitting as "offense"?
Question:Any more of these dimwit announcers that calls a guy a "good offensive outfielder" or a "good defensive shortstop" ought to be killed. No kidding. Right up there in the booth on the air for all the listeners to hear. A "good shortstop" already means that a player is a good fielder at shortstop. A "good hitter" is self-explanatory. These people are being redundant. Baseball has fielders and hitters, O.K.? NOT offense and defense--those are for other sports.
Answers:
Question about a baseball card.baseball card collectors please reply!?
Uh, did you forget your meds this morning? You seem a bit too emotional.Merely stating a player is a "good shortstop" or "good hitter" isn't being specific. Oh, he's a good hitter? Okay, but what about his play in the field?
Would you call Piazza a "good catcher?" He's a good hitter, but he sucks behind the plate. Then you have someone like Posada who is a good hitter AND good defensively, so you can say he's a "good al-around catcher."
It's just the announcers/analysts trying to be a bit more specific. I don't see anything wrong in what they say.
In any sport, offense = you scoring (or attempting to), and defense = preventing the opposition from scoring. That fits right in with baseball's hitting and fielding, respectively.
More Questions & Answers...