In baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, a pull hitter is a batter who usually

Statistical significance

In statistics, a result is called statistically significant if it is unlikely to have occurred by chance. The phrase test of significance was coined by Ronald Fisher....

 hits the ball to the side of the field from which he bats. For example, a right-handed pull hitter, who bats from the third-base side of the plate, will usually hit the ball to the third-base side of the field, termed "left field" according to the baseball convention of describing the field from the audience's or "house" perspective. The opposite of pull hitting is known as "hitting to the opposite field

Opposite field

Opposite field is a baseball term that refers to the area of the outfield that faces the hitter, which would be right field for a right-hander and left field for a left-hander...

." Hitters who rarely hit to the opposite field or "up the middle" are often described as dead pull hitters.

When a pull hitter with a high batting average is at the plate, it is common for the manager

Manager (baseball)

In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

 of the defensive team to implement the defensive tactic known as "shifting," moving one or more infielder

Infielder

An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.-Standard arrangement of positions:In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles...

s and/or outfielders to the side of the field to which the batter usually hits, with the number of moved players being proportional to the increase in likelihood of the batter's hitting to that side of the field. For a left-handed power hitter such as the Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

' Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard

Ryan James Howard is a Major League Baseball first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. Nicknamed "The Big Piece", Howard stands and weighs . He bats and throws left-handed....

 or a strong left-handed contact hitter

Contact hitter

In baseball, the term contact hitter is used to describe a hitter who does not strike out often. Thus, they are usually able to use their bats to make contact with the ball and put it in play...

 such as Ted Williams

Ted Williams

Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...

 (who possessed considerable power as well), a full "shift" involves placing the third baseman

Third baseman

A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...

 in the shortstop

Shortstop

Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...

's normal position; the shortstop between the first

First baseman

First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...

 and second

Second baseman

Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...

 basemen, usually in shallow right field

Right fielder

A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...

; the left fielder

Left fielder

In baseball, a left fielder is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...

 in left-center or center field; and the center fielder

Center fielder

A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball fielding position between left field and right field...

in right-center field. Conversely, managers often call for the opposite shift when a strong right-handed pull hitter is at bat for the opposing team.