Coach

• Outline
  • Rules
  • Baseball field
  • Equipment
  • Player rosters
  • Non players
  • Distinctive elements
  • Defensive Players
    • Pitcher (P)
    • Catcher (C)
    • First Baseman (1B)
    • Second Baseman (2B)
    • Third Baseman (3B)
    • Shortstop (SS)
    • Left Fielder (LF)
    • Center Fielder (CF)
    • Right Fielder (RF)
  • Offensive Players
    • Batter
    • Runner
    • Designated Hitter
    • Pinch Hitter
    • Pinch Runner
    • Lead Off
    • Lead Off Hitter
    • Cleanup Hitter
• Gameplay
  • Defensive Play
  • Offensive Play
  • Batting order (1-9)
  • Strategy and tactics
  • Game progress
  • Batting
  • Pitching
  • Base running
  • Fielding

In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game. Beyond the manager, more than a half dozen coaches may assist the manager in running the team.

Roles of professional baseball coaches

Baseball is unique in that the manager and coaches typically all wear numbered uniforms similar to those of the players. Notable exceptions to this were Baseball Hall of Fame manager Connie Mack, who always wore a black suit during his 50 years at the helm of the Philadelphia Athletics, and Burt Shotton, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1940s, who wore a Dodger 200 cap and a team jacket over street clothes in the dugout. After the widespread adoption of numbered uniforms in the early 1930s, Joe McCarthy, another Hall of Fame manager, wore a full uniform but no number on his back for the remainder of his career. Coincidentally, all three men retired during or after the same season — 1950.

Full-time coaches in professional baseball date to 1909, when John McGraw of the New York Giants engaged Arlie Latham and Wilbert Robinson as coaches. By the 1920s, most Major League teams had two full-time coaches, although the manager often doubled as third-base coach and specialists such as pitching coaches were rare. After World War II, most MLB teams listed between three and five coaches on their roster, as managers increasingly ran their teams from the dugout full-time, and appointed pitching and bullpen coaches to assist them and the baseline coaches. Batting and bench coaches came into vogue during the 1960s and later. Because of the proliferation of uniformed coaches in the modern game, Major League Baseball now restricts the number of uniformed staff to six coaches and one manager during the course of a game.

Bench coach

The first bench coach in baseball was George Huff, who took that helm for the Illinois Fighting Illini baseball in 1905; at the time, it meant a coach present throughout the season.

More recently, the bench coach is a team's second-in-command. The bench coach serves as an in-game advisor to the manager, offering situational advice, and bouncing ideas back and forth in order to assist the manager in making game decisions. If the manager is ejected, suspended, or unable to attend a game for any reason, the bench coach assumes the position of acting manager. If the manager is fired or resigns during the season, it is usually the bench coach who gets promoted to interim manager. The bench coach's responsibilities also include helping to set up the day's practice and stretching routines before a game, as well as coordinating spring training routines and practices.

Pitching and bullpen coaches

A pitching coach mentors and trains teams' pitchers. He advises the manager on the condition of pitchers and their arms, and serves as an in-game coach for the pitcher currently on the mound. When a manager makes a visit to the mound, he typically is doing so to make a pitching change or to discuss situational defense. However, to talk about mechanics or how to pitch to a particular batter, the pitching coach is the one who will typically visit the mound. As the name suggests, the pitching coach is generally a former pitcher. Prior to the early 1950s, pitching coaches were usually former catchers.

The bullpen coach is similar to a pitching coach, but works primarily with relief pitchers in the bullpen. He does not make mound visits, however, as he stays in the bullpen the entire game, working with relievers who are warming up to enter the game. Generally, the bullpen coach is either a former pitcher or catcher.

Offensive coaches: hitting coach and base coaches

A hitting coach, as the name suggests, works with a team's players to improve their hitting techniques and form. He monitors players' swings during the game and over the course of the season, advising them when necessary between at-bats on adjustments to make. He also oversees their performance during practices, cage sessions, and pre-game batting practice. With the advent of technology, hitting coaches are increasingly utilizing video to analyze their hitters along with scouting the opposing pitchers. Video has allowed hitting coaches to clearly illustrate problem areas in the swing, making the adjustment period quicker for the player being analyzed. This process is typically called video analysis.

Two on-field coaches are present when the team is at bat. Stationed in designated coaches' boxes near first and third base, they are appropriately named base coaches—individually, first base coach and third base coach. They assist in the direction of baserunners, help prevent pickoffs, and relay signals sent from the manager in the dugout to runners and batters. While the first base coach is primarily responsible for the batter as to whether he stops at first base or not or for a runner already on first, the third base coach carries more responsibility. His duties include holding or sending runners rounding second and third bases, as well as having to make critical, split-second decisions about whether to try to score a runner on a hit, and accounting for the arm strength of the opposing team's fielder and the speed and position of his baserunner.

Additional coaching responsibilities

The bench coach, third base coach, and first base coach often are assigned additional responsibility for assisting players in specific areas, particularly defense. Common designations include outfield instructor, infield instructor, catching instructor and base running instructor. When a coaching staff is assembled, the selection of the first base coach is frequently made with the purpose of filling a gap in these coaching responsibilities, as the actual in-game duties of a first base coach are relatively light.

Other coaches

Teams may also employ individuals to work with players in other areas or activities. These positions sometimes include the word "coach" in their titles. Individuals holding these positions usually do not dress in uniform during games, as the number of uniformed coaches is restricted by Major League Baseball rules. The most prominent of these positions are the athletic trainer and the strength and conditioning coach. All Major League Baseball teams employ an athletic trainer; most employ a strength and conditioning coach. Other positions include bullpen catcher and batting practice pitcher. Some teams also employ additional coaches without specific responsibilities.

Minor and amateur leagues

In general, Major League Baseball teams will have one person specifically assigned to each coaching position described above. However, minor league and amateur teams typically have coaches fulfill multiple responsibilities. A typical minor league/amateur team coaching structure will have a manager, a pitching coach, and a hitting coach, each of whom also assumes the responsibilities of the first and third base coaches, bullpen coach, etc. In U.S. college baseball, the title "manager" is not used; the person who fills the role of a professional manager is instead called the "head coach".

• Outline
  

  SPORTS WORLD

  Baseball

  Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each who take turns batting and fielding. The batting team attempts to score runs by hitting a ball that is thrown by the pitcher with a bat swung by the batter, then running counter-clockwise around a series of four bases: first, second, third, and home plate.

  Rules and gameplay: A game is played between two teams, each comprising nine players, that take turns playing offense (batting and baserunning) and defense (pitching and fielding).

  Baseball field: A baseball field, also called a ball field or a baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played.

  Equipment: A rounded, solid wooden or hollow aluminum bat. Wooden bats are traditionally made from ash wood, though maple and bamboo is also sometimes used.

  Player rosters: Roster, or squad, sizes differ between different leagues and different levels of organized play. Major League Baseball teams maintain 25-player active rosters.

  Non players: In the game of baseball, the official scorer is a person appointed by the league to record the events on the field, and to send the official scoring record of the game back to the league offices.

  Distinctive elements: Baseball has certain attributes that set it apart from the other popular team sports in the countries where it has a following, including American and Canadian football, basketball, ice hockey, and soccer.

  Defensive Play: Baseball is unlike most other competitive sports in that the defense is given control of the ball.

  Offensive Play: Batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for one's team. A batter or hitter is a person whose turn it is to face the pitcher.

  Batting order (1-9): The batting order or batting lineup is the sequence in which the members of the offense take their turns in batting against the pitcher.

  Strategy and tactics: Many of the pre-game and in-game strategic decisions in baseball revolve around a fundamental fact: in general, right-handed batters tend to be more successful against left-handed pitchers and, to an even greater degree, left-handed batters tend to be more successful against right-handed pitchers.

• Baseball Positions
  

  SPORTS WORLD

  Baseball Positions

  At the beginning of each half-inning, the nine players on the fielding team arrange themselves around the field. One of them, the pitcher, stands on the pitcher's mound.

  Defensive Players

  Pitcher (P): The pitcher is the player who throws the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk.

  Catcher (C): When a batter takes his/her turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher.

  First Baseman (1B): First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team.

  Second Baseman (2B): The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must be able to make the pivot on a double play.

  Third Baseman (3B): The third baseman requires good reflexes in reacting to batted balls, as he or she is often the closest infielder (roughly 90–120 feet) to the batter.

  Shortstop (SS): The position is mostly filled by defensive specialists, so shortstops are generally relatively poor batters who bat later in the batting order, with some exceptions.

  Left Fielder (LF): Outfielders must cover large distances - speed, instincts, and quickness in reacting to the ball are key. They must be able to catch fly balls above their head and on the run.

  Center Fielder (CF): A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball fielding position between left field and right field.

  Right Fielder (RF): Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound.

   

  Offensive Players

  Batter: A batter or hitter is a person whose turn it is to face the pitcher. The three main goals of batters are to become a baserunner, drive runners home, or advance runners along the bases for others to drive home.

  Runner: In general, base running is a tactical part of the game with the goal of eventually reaching home to score a run.

  Designated Hitter: The rule allows teams to have one player, known as the designated hitter (abbreviated DH), to bat in place of the pitcher.

  Pinch Hitter: Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute.

  Pinch Runner: The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been substituted.

  Lead Off: A lead or lead off is the short distance that a player stands away from their current base.

  Lead Off Hitter: Leadoff hitters must possess certain traits to be successful: they must reach base at a proficient on-base percentage rate and be able to steal bases.

  Cleanup Hitter: Cleanup hitters often have the most power on the team and are typically the team's best power hitter; their job is to "clean up the bases", hence the name.

RESOURCES
This article uses material from the Wikipedia articles "Baseball" and "Coach (baseball)", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.