Tino Martinez First Base New York Yankees

We asked New York Yankees First Baseman Tino Martinez to give you some tips on becoming a better first baseman.

With runners not on base, how do you field your position?

Basically, with nobody on base I play straight up. It depends on who's hitting -- sometimes with a left-handed hitter you may cheat them towards the line a little bit, and if it's a right-handed batter I just play straight.

With a runner on first base, how do you field your position and how do you hold the runner?

I try to cover as much ground as I can, because the hole is on the right side there, and I just basically try to wait until the last second when the guy throws home and just cover as much ground as I can.

Where do you position yourself when an outfielder is throwing the ball to home plate and you are the cutoff man?

I look at home plate -- I try to line myself up so I know when the guy throws the ball to home plate he's going to throw right at me in a direct line -- and I try to listen to the catcher. But you really can't hear, so you've got to look at home plate yourself and then try to pick up the outfielder.

How do you field a pop-fly when it's really sunny out? Do you prefer wearing sunglasses or eyeblack, and which works better?

Neither really works, eyeblack helps with the glare a little bit, but I don't really put my glasses down because I lose my depth perception of the ball, so I try to just shield the sun with my glove.

On a double play opportunity, how do you shorten the distance of the throw and stretch for the ball?

You can't stretch too early because if the ball is left or right you won't catch it, so you've got to wait until the guy releases the ball to see which way it's going, and then try to make the longest stretch you can make in that direction.