ABNER WEPT:

Game shifted into the bizarre (Nick Cafardo, April 19, 2006, Boston Globe)

Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon said it took him five rides on the stationary bike to come up with the David Ortiz shift he implemented in last night's 7-4 loss to the Red Sox.

''We've been thinking about this for a while," Maddon said. ''The topic's been broached, but we finally put it into play today. Honestly, I've been thinking and thinking about it. When I do my bike rides, I think about things like that.

''I've been involved with defense for years. When you look at the charts, there's very few balls hit on the ground on the left side. But there's a lot of balls hit into the gap."

So Maddon employed a shift in the first inning that left no infielders on the left side and six players in the outfield. Third baseman Ty Wigginton moved to left field, and the other outfielders moved over. And the right-side infielders were positioned in short right field.

''The last several years, it's crossed my mind," Maddon said. ''He's on the level with Barry Bonds as far as his hitting ability. He's just so hard to pitch to. There really are no holes. He covers everything. We're just going to keep trying. We play them 19 times. We've got to try something."

Ortiz went 2 for 5, solving the shift with a pair of shots off the Wall for doubles.

In baseball you've never seen it all.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 19, 2006 9:26 AM