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Joe Maddon Working On Creating Cool New Infield Position
SPORTS NEWS IN BRIEF • Sports • Mlb Baseball • ISSUE 48•16 • Apr 17, 2012
ST. PETERSBURG, FL—Saying he finds the
defensive positioning that has been standard
in baseball for well over 100 years
"staid" and "primitive," Rays manager Joe
Maddon revealed Monday he is deep in the
process of creating an exciting new infield
position for his team. "It's going to be
called 'thwartstop,'" said Maddon, who has
been working on the position off and on since
abandoning efforts to reimagine the left fielder
role in the late 1990s. "I haven't worked out all
the kinks, but basically you use one less
outfielder, and the thwartstop plays in a different part of the infield for each batter, standing in
the exact spot spray charts show the batter is most likely to hit the ball." He later showed
reporters a special prototype thwartstop glove he has been sewing and divulged that he
offered Evan Longoria $500 to star in a instructional video series about the new position that
Maddon is self-producing.
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