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The key step for an infielder is the first one... but before the ball is hit.

When the ball was hit, my first reaction as a shortstop was always go in the direction of the ball. You can't do that at first base. You go too far in that direction, and it's hard to scurry back and be ready to pick the throw.

You can't swing with hesitation; you can't try to steer the ball to the flag; you can't worry about that water hazard as you take the club back. You have to pick the right club, visualize the shot you want to hit, and then focus on that shot until the ball is gone.

When I move to second after playing right field, I feel like my action has gotten too deliberate, and I have to switch back into that quicker, boom-boom infield mode.

The easiest way around the bases is with one swing of the bat.

It starts with me. I have to get the team in the right play and throw the ball where it's supposed to go.

If you run the ball, you control the clock. If you control the clock, you usually control the game.

The call that always seemed the toughest to me was the slide and tag play at second. You can see it coming, but you don't know which way the runner is going to slide, where the throw is going to be, and how the fielder is going to take the throw.

See the ball; hit the ball.