utility player

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What is a utility player? Is this a nice way of saying that this girl is the rotating girl on the bench or someone that you use to give your starters a break.

 

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We have utility players as well. Our meaning for them is, they can play anywhere we need them to play, they can play the postion just as good sometimes even better, but the team has the flexability to place them in any holes on the field we may have from game to game.

 

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So what you are saying is when the field is set the utility player is sat unless needed to play any position.

 

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no most of the time our utility player is playing somewhere for someone

 

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Most Utilty players are the best player on the team, defensively and offensively. They have speed, or they couldn't play the position. So they rarely set the bench.

 

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I've always considered my DD as one of my utility players as she's literally played all 9 positions (some better than others). One year, in addition to the DD, I had 1 that could play 8, and 2 that could play 7 - comes in real handy when you have to adjust a lineup because of injury.

For me utility players are golden, and they will see as much time (sometimes more depending on the weekend and who's healthy) in the field and at the plate as any of the "position" players; the only real difference is that I expect them to be proficient at multiple positions and have the ability to change positions in mid-game without missing a beat.

 

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Couldn't have said it better Bear. My dd has played 8 in two years. I think Johnnies had her play 3 positions in one game, as a sub. They key word above is Proficient. Kids get hurt and being able to move during a game makes it easy for the coach to make changes. As a coach I have had the other problem. Kids that can only play ( say first base). In life you are always going to find someone that can do it better than you, so those kids someday will be on the bench.

 

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Thanks!!! now I have a better understanding. Iam new to all this so dont think Iam being a wise guy or something but I just dont know.

 

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Not a problem and glad you asked.

 

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So what you are saying is when the field is set the utility player is sat unless needed to play any position.

On a So SO team its a Bench Player. On A High Quality Team its can be a Highly skilled and versatile player who probably Rotates around giving other players a game off and more importantly giving you (as a Coach) DEPTH !!! A necessary evil to have a Competitive team.

 

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utility player - when a player plays the positions where the coaches daughters dont want to play. :lmao:

 

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On a So SO team its a Bench Player. On A High Quality Team its can be a Highly skilled and versatile player who probably Rotates around giving other players a game off and more importantly giving you (as a Coach) DEPTH !!! A necessary evil to have a Competitive team.

Definitely pays to ask the coach what their definition is. After you do that, ask one or more of the parents on the team how the utility seems to be used.

 

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Definitely pays to ask the coach what their definition is. After you do that, ask one or more of the parents on the team how the utility seems to be used.

Absolutely ask. When I hear "utility player" I think bench/spot player. I take the adjective "utility" for its definition. Take for instance "utility knife". It's not the best knife to use for a particular application, but it will do given that application. Ulitility literally means servicable, not top grade.

I call a player that is a starter/majority player that can be put anywhere on the field a stud. So, where Mr. May considers his dd a utility player, I consider her a stud. (I say this because I know she plays for a solid college team in a tough conference) She would not have been asked to play for this team if she were merely "servicable/not top grade" in my opinion. She was a stud and was noticed.

Having said that, there are truly coaches in fastpitch that will call their best all-around players "utility players". Other coaches will call a kid a utility player and tell them how important being a utility player is, only to let them ride the pine and play them for a few innings during pool play. If you play for my team, a utility player is a 2nd string spot player. That way, a kid and their parents know where they stand and hopefully they will focus, work harder, and get better to get more playing time.

Len

 

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I always thought of a utility player as the girl that plays her position best, but can suit the team better in another position. IE: girl is great at second but the right fielder is getting killed, drop her back and she doesnt miss a step, or complain, to help the team.

She will always be on the field, you just dont know where. She will always make a difference in one way or another.

Wikipedia defined as: READ THE LAST LINE

In baseball, a utility player is a player who can play several different positions.

In general, each major league baseball team has at least one player who can be described as a utility player. The most famous utility player is probably Pete Rose (though he was not described as such), because during his career, he played left field, right field, center field, third base, second base and finally, first base late in his career. A famous current utility player is Ryan Theriot of the Chicago Cubs, who despite now being their starting shortstop, has played shortstop, third base, second base, and outfield at some point in his short major league career. As well as the Detroit Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge who has played third base, shortstop, second base, catcher, left field, right field, and centerfield. Most professional teams have two types of utility players. There are "utility infielders", who usually play all of the infield positions (plus occasionally catcher). Utility outfielders, or fourth outfielders, tend to play all three outfield positions as various times. Occasionally, there will be players who perform a combination of the two duties. Utility players tend to be players who come off of the bench, though this isn't absolute. Often, players who don't have high prospects to be a major league star will learn additional positions so they can look more attractive to major league clubs as bench talent.

Cookie Rojas, Bert Campaneris, Shane Halter, and Jose Oquendo all played every position (including pitcher) during their respective careers.

Tony Phillips was the first player to start 10 games at five different positions in the same season.

In softball, a utility player is a player who can play several positions but can also bat well. Coaches often look for such players to bat as clean-up or 5th in the lineup.

 

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young lady played for my nephew few years ago, coach played her in every position but catch and pitch, she used to grouch but did as he asked, now in college she plays every game because she learned all the positions. coaches wife ran in to her at wed. firestone league and players dad said to thank the coach for all he taught her, shes regular on her college team and is (utility) player who plays where they need her..
UTILITY==VERSATILE

 

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Speigleme, it's interesting how you left the very first sentence out from Wikipedia: In sport, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently, a sort of a jack of all trades.

Basically, that means that a utility player is not the best option, but it's not your worst option either. Ryan Freel for the Reds was a utility player, and Pete Rose was by no means a utility player. Rose was an average fielder, but he was a great hitter. There is a reason the MLB does not categorize Rose as a utility player....he simply wasn't. The following article is from MLB.com. Read it in its entirety. It tells you what the MLB thinks a utility player is. You will read terms such as "sub" and "bench player". The article describes how valuable a "super utility player" can be to a team.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090516&content_id=4768298&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Len

 

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A team without a versatile utility player is a team that will run into quite a few uh oh what do we do now situations that will ultimately cost your team a game.

 

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I always think of a utility player as a player who can play just about anywhere that you need them.

 

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Speigleme, it's interesting how you left the very first sentence out from Wikipedia: In sport, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently, a sort of a jack of all trades.

Basically, that means that a utility player is not the best option, but it's not your worst option either. Ryan Freel for the Reds was a utility player, and Pete Rose was by no means a utility player. Rose was an average fielder, but he was a great hitter. There is a reason the MLB does not categorize Rose as a utility player....he simply wasn't. The following article is from MLB.com. Read it in its entirety. It tells you what the MLB thinks a utility player is. You will read terms such as "sub" and "bench player". The article describes how valuable a "super utility player" can be to a team.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090516&content_id=4768298&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Len

I was looking more at the softball line. I put the rest in for the old baseball fuddy duddys

In softball, a utility player is a player who can play several positions but can also bat well. Coaches often look for such players to bat as clean-up or 5th in the lineup.