Starting lineup

In sports, a starting lineup is an official list of the set of players who will participate in the event when the <a href="/facts/Game/JNzato20">game</a> begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are <a href="/facts/Substitution_(sport)/AUxzgjQ2">substitutes</a> or bench players.
The starters are commonly the best players on the team at their respective positions. Consequently, there is often a bit of prestige that is associated with being a starter. This is particularly true in sports with limited substitutions, like <a href="/facts/Baseball/42bEQy1Y">baseball</a> or <a href="/facts/Association_football/yttjeD0D">association football</a> (soccer).
When listing a team's lineup, it is common in some sports to include each player's <a href="/facts/Uniform_number/PUAmHg5b">uniform number</a> and their position, along with their name. Position are often designated by abbreviations that are specific to the sport (for example, in <a href="/facts/American_football/TGzJa1nW">American football</a>; "SS" for <a href="/facts/Strong_safety/vKIgzauE">strong safety</a>). In both baseball and <a href="/facts/Basketball/M5pl4Pzo">basketball</a>, it is common for a player's position to be denoted by a number, for example: in <a href="/facts/Baseball_scorekeeping/s8DKJlQ5">baseball scorekeeping</a> the <a href="/facts/Shortstop/Rs9uGnr9">shortstop</a> position is "6", while in basketball the <a href="/facts/Small_forward/L3LFKfk6">small forward</a> position is known as the "three". Thus, the lineups for some sports can include a uniform number, the player's name, and an abbreviation (consisting of letters or numbers) denoting a position.

Starting lineup open-in-new

Starting lineup