Field Positions and Progressions

Starting team field positions:

Starting with the first inning, so it’s easy to remember and to retain some traditional reference, Home bats last, Visitor bats first, and Away starts “away” in the outfield. This means the Home team starts in the infield (they have the catcher, who starts at home plate). The Away team starts in the outfield (and they have the pitcher, who is considered part of the outfield). And the Visitor team starts at bat.

Innings:

Because there are three teams, an inning consists of each team getting a chance to bat for 3 outs, for a total of 9 outs per inning. There is a Top, Middle, and Bottom of every inning, and the Home team always bats at the bottom of the inning (or you can change who starts where each inning too - see grid below and "Rotating..." explanation).

Field position progression:

Follow the in-to-out (near-to-away) sequence of changes to know where to play next: for instance, Visitor goes Bat - Infield - Outfield, Repeat (see location and inning (part) grid, below. Home is highlighted):

See also the home or title page, 3-part graphic (click here to display it in a new window) that shows the three teams as Blue (Home), Green (Visitor) and Yellow (Away). Note that if rotating, they can change position between each inning, as well as each 3-part inning is played.

Rotating players through field positions:

If desired, players can be required to play a different field position each inning-part as well. The easiest way to do this is to rotate them right to left, then home, and back to the original position. This develops their playing skills and comfort in every position of the field. For instance, for the infield, a player who starts the game at first base would then play second, short, third, and home each new inning, then play first base again in the sixth inning. For the outfield, a player who starts in right field would then play right-center, left-center, left field, and then pitcher, before playing right field again in the sixth inning. (If you have six players on a team, you can rotate the sixth position as one of the base coaches or the umpire, or have them sit out one turn each - see the XTRAS page on coaches.)

Non-rotating inning starts:

The simplest way to start each inning is with each team always in the same position (use only the left side of the grid, above (the Top, Middle and Bottom parts of the inning)). Again, the Home team starts in the infield (including home plate), the Away team starts in the outfield (including the pitching mound), and the Visitor team is up to bat.

Rotating where to start each inning:

If the league or even players decide before each game, teams can also rotate where they start each inning (the full grid above shows how the starting position each inning can change, then each inning is played for 9 outs from there, with teams rotating: bat-infield-outfield). This will require a pause between innings though and while it allows each team to bat last, twice per game, it can get very confusing.

Field position, playing position, and the order of change/progression is the most complicated part of the 3TS rules, so keep the graphics handy to show people where to go. But once you get used to it, and playing using the 3TS rules of organization, it becomes easy to track and remember.

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