Defense
The rightfielder, in baseball, is the man who covers the right side of the outfield, behind first base. Although there is no set rule, rightfielders tend to have less speed and range than a leftfielder, since most players in baseball are right-handed and tend to pull balls to the left, and thus the leftfielder becomes a more valued position. On the other hand, they also tend to have stronger arms. Since runners advance in a counterclockwise manner around the bases, and the first baseman is usually covering the bag when a runner is on first to prevent stealing, this often leaves the rightfielder attempting to throw out runners at second and third base on well-hit balls.
The rightfielder is marked by a 9 for official scoring purposes. For example, a flyout to the rightfielder would be recorded as an
9
and the rightfielder subsequently throwing the ball into third to throw out an advancing runner would be recorded as
9-5
Offense
As mentioned earlier, rightfielders are generally slower but more powerful players than other players. Thus, rightfielders often become power hitters, batting cleanup or third to help drive in runs. A rightfielder may still be a speed threat (witness Ichiro and Bobby Bonds) but more often than not they are noted for their slugging prowess at the plate.
Throughout the years, a number of excellent rightfielders have graced Major League Baseball. Here is a fairly comprehensive list of rightfielders (although some only played right field for brief periods in their career) who made a significant mark in the majors, with Hall of Famers denoted in bold:
Hank Aaron - Felipe Alou - Harold Baines - Albert Belle - Bobby Bonds - Jay Buhner - Jose Canseco - Joe Carter - Jack Clark - Roberto Clemente - Rocky Colavito - Tony Conigliaro - Gavvy Cravath - Sam Crawford - Kiki Cuyler - Andre Dawson - Dwight Evans - Elmer Flick - Carl Furillo - Ken Griffey, Sr. - Vladimir Guerrero - Tony Gwynn - Harry Heilmann - Babe Herman - Harry Hooper - Ichiro - "Shoeless" Joe Jackson - Reggie Jackson - Jackie Jensen - David Justice - Al Kaline - Willie Keeler - Chuck Klein - Roger Maris - Dale Murphy - Bill Nicholson - Tony Oliva - Paul O'Neill - Mel Ott - Dave Parker - Manny Ramirez - Sam Rice - Frank Robinson - Pete Rose - Babe Ruth - Reggie Sanders - Wildfire Schulte - Gary Sheffield - Ruben Sierra - Enos Slaughter - Reggie Smith - Sammy Sosa - Chick Stahl - Darryl Strawberry - Sam Thompson - Larry Walker - Paul Waner - Billy Williams - Dave Winfield -Ross Youngs
Records
Career
Games: 2760, Hank Aaron
At-Bats: 12364, Hank Aaron
Hits: 3771, Hank Aaron
Runs: 2174, Hank Aaron
Doubles: 624, Hank Aaron
Triples: 309, Sam Crawford
Home Runs: 755, Hank Aaron
Runs Batted In: 2297, Hank Aaron
Stolen Bases: 495, Willie Keeler
Batting Average: .356, Joe Jackson
Single Season
Games: 164, Billy Williams, 1965 Chicago Cubs
At-Bats: 692, Ichiro, 2001 Seattle Mariners
Hits: 250, Chuck Klein, 1930 Philadelphia Phillies
Runs: 177, Babe Ruth, 1921 New York Yankees
Doubles: 67, Earl Webb, 1931 Boston Red Sox
Triples: 36, Chief Wilson, 1912 Pittsburgh Pirates
Home Runs: 66, Sammy Sosa, 1998 Chicago Cubs
Runs Batted In: 171, Babe Ruth, 1921 New York Yankees
Stolen Bases: 72, Otis Nixon, 1991 Atlanta Braves
Batting Average: .408, Joe Jackson, 1911 Cleveland Indians
Most Gold Gloves, American League: 10, Al Kaline
Most Gold Gloves, National League: 12, Roberto Clemente