Baseball: What does a first-base coach do?

Factual Questions
1

This has probably been covered before, but just in case …

What, exactly, does a first-base coach in baseball do? The third-base coach I can understand – he signals the batter for hit-and-runs, take the pitch, etc. He also lets the runner know if he should advance to home or stop at third, since 99 percent of the time the play is behind the runner.

But what can a first-base coach do? He doesn’t need to signal the runner, because the play is in front of the runner. He doesn’t send signals to the batter that I know of. So what’s his purpose?

2

A few WAGs:

To give a “you made it here, great job!” pep talk.

To remind the runner to look over at the 3B coach, to get a possible steal sign.

To indicate whether or not it is feasible to try to stretch a single into a double.

First base coaches are a stepping stone on the coaching heirarchy, I’ve also noticed. A lot of 3B coaches get promoted to manager, but 1B coaches don’t.

3

I must admit I don’t really know the answer to your question, but here’s something amusing from a Christian website:

Seriously though, if I had to guess, I would think that the first base coach advises the runner on whether or not he should try to stretch a single into a double, or whether he should advance to second base in the event of a misplay in the field (such as a pickoff attempt that sails over the first baseman’s head into foul ground or an outfielder losing his grip on the ball)

4

I play a lot of softball, and usually we only have a first-base coach when someone has made an egregious error as a batter and would rather coach first than face the “wrath” of teammates.

In baseball, a first base coach’s primary duty is to shout “back” to the runner at first when the pitcher makes a pickoff throw. Not too challenging, since the play is in front of the runner, but sometimes necessary nonetheless.

Also, the first base coach is supposed to be pretty well informed on the throwing abilities of outfielders and will sometimes encourage a runner to at least fake going for an extra base on a weak-armed fielder, get back to first quickly on a guy known to throw behind the runner, be alert because the infielders on a given team may be sloppy in regards to cut-off throws, etc.

He also gets to collect the various equipment (helmet, shin guard, gloves,etc.) after the third out if a guy is on first. Lucky duck. Hundred grand a year to be a glorified equipment boy!

5

The first base coach is often the guy who decides whether or not a runner should attempt to steal. Even in the majors, few players are given the freedom to steal at will. The first base coach will watch the pitchers to help determine if a steal can be safety attempted.

6

First base coaches are also fond of telling runners on first, “If there’s a ground ball to second, don’t let him tag you.”
I.e., don’t run the team into an easy 4-3 double play. You should stop and make the second baseman chase you or throw the ball to second.

First base coaches usually don’t tell the batter-runner to take an extra base unless it’s a ball hit into the RF corner, which the batter-runner might miss.

7

I hadn’t realized that the 3B coach was a more glamorous job than the 1B coach, as several posts have strongly implied. If this is so…why?

Is there a reason that the 3B guy (instead of 1B) is generally the “signalman” to the batter? Just tradition, or am I overlooking some practical benefit? All he’s doing is just relaying signals from the manager in the dugout, isn’t he? Or is he making the decisions (hit-and-run, etc.) himself?

8

Whoops. Reading my last post, I sound like I haven’t been reading the thread.

What I meant to focus on specifically was the 3B coach being the designated guy to signal the batter at the plate, regardless of which baseline the team’s dugout is on.

It’s quite clear to me that the 3B coach’s role in directing runners on base is more obvious.

9

There is a time when a first base coach can give signs. In college we had this play where if you draw a walk with a guy on third and less than 2 outs, as soon as you reach first base, take off sprinting towards second to try and confuse the pitcher into throwing you out, then as soon as he lets go of the ball the guy on third races home.

It was a fun play catching them off guard.

Anyway, it was the first base coach who gave us the sign to do that.

The first base coach also reviews the guy’s at bat with him.

He also says reminds the hitter of how many outs there are and says, "Ground ball, run hard… line drive, see it through… fly ball, wait for the tag… 2 outs run on anything.

10

The 3B coach is the logical guy to give signals because the batter and the runners on first and second can see him easily. The runner on third usually doesn’t need a signal unless a squeeze play is on and those don’t happen too often.

The 3B coach also has to tell the runner on second where the middle infielders are in case a pickoff attempt is being tried there.

Another job of the 1B coach is to give the first baseman a ball as he enters the dugout so he can use it throw around the infield warming up the next time he goes out. That job is traditional and has no real need to be done by the 1b coach.

11

That makes sense. Thanks, Bob. :slight_smile:

12

The first base coaches responsibilities are–

Telling the runner whether to stop when trying to stretch a single into a double. On a ball hit to the gap, the runner is usually in “double mode” to start with. It’s easier to tell them to stop than to make them look to see if they should go.

To get the sign from the dugout and tell (or signal) the guy at first and usually, the guy at second, if a hit and run, steal, sacrifice or whatever is on. A slight digression here. Most managers give their speedsters (at least their veteran speedsters) a full-time green light and signal them when they DON’T want them to steal. The regular players are told when to steal.

To tell the runner at first base “back” when a pickoff is coming and to “go” on a passed ball or wild pitch. The later responsibility is the job of the batter when a runner is at second. Seriously.

I think just about every 1B coach has another responsibility, hitting coach or (usually) baserunning coach. Apparently 1B coach is not a full-time job. More often than not, 3B coaches are former major league managers and if not, then they are former minor league managers being groomed for the major league job.

As for why, my theory is it’s a hold over from the old days when the manager coached third and some player coached first (In the minors, manager still often coach third and Billy Martin and Tommy Lasorda did it in the majors on occasion). Back then, you didn’t six or eight coaches.

3B coach does have more responsibilities, since the play is usually behind the runner, so it is a good place to find out how someone holds up under the pressure of the situation. I’m not sure it’s fair, there is a big difference between the “action” pressure of a 3B coach and the “situational” pressure of a manager, but that’s the way it is.

13

On a fair number of teams, the 1B coach is a former star whose presence is used to attract fans. Sometimes you will see a player who just missed making the Hall of Fame take a job as 1B or other low-stress coach, to get his name in front of writers all over the majors before the next election.

– Beruang

14

That’s rarer than you think. Eddie Murray on the Orioles is probably the only one to fit that bill right now. Two others might *seem *to be in that group-Billy Williams of the Cubs and Alan Trammel of the Padres, but Williams is in his 17th year of coaching at the major league level and is considered one of the most knowledgable 1B coaches. He draws fans, I suppose, but that’s not why he’s there. I wouldn’t put it past the Padres to have hired hometown boy Alan Trammel to attract fans, but he is intent on moving up the coaching ladder. The Padres offered him a position in the majors, whereas the Tigers were keeping him in the minors, as a coach.

Not so much anymore, now they just hire a publicist. Although Alan Trammel’s write up in the Padre’s Media Guide is as blatant a message to the Hall of Fame voters as you’ll ever see–even to the point of stating that he’ll be on the ballot in 2002.

I’m going to stick with my assertion that the 1B coach is a part time job and they usually have other duties, often baserunning. So I read every media guide I could get my hands on. This was easier than you think because one guy in my apartment building is into Rotisserie baseball to the point where I think he could be declared legally insane. He looked at me like I was out of my mind for wanting to browse his media guide collection to look up 1B coaches, as opposed to say, players who play 1B, but he’s in 5 Rotisserie leagues and could, seriously, tell you if it was raining at any Major League game faster than telling you if it was raining outside.

Only the Colorado Rockies and the St. Louis Cardinals come right out and tell you who their baserunnning coach is. Usually you have to read the writeup and they’ll say a coach is also handling the baserunning chores. I also checked out the transactions on a couple of web sites, because the’ll say that a coach was hired to coach 1B and something else, whereas you look at the roster, it just says 1B.

This leads me to the following list–
California Angels-Alfredo Griffin, doubles as baserunning coach.
Baltimore Orioles-Eddie Murray.
Boston Red Sox-Tommy Harper, doubles as baserunnig coach.
Cleveland Indians-Ted Uhlaender, doubles as baserunning coach.
Chicago White Sox-Gary Pettis, doubles as baserunning coach.
Detroit Tigers-Juan Samuel, doubles as (and this is scary) baserunning coach.
Kansas City Royals-Frank White. I don’t know if White is baserunning coach, but he was a good enough runner to do so. Certainly no on else on the coaching staff is up to the job.
Minnesota Twins-Jerry White. Paul Molitor handles the baserunning coaching.
New York Yankees-Lee Mazzilli, doubles as outfield coach.
Oakland Athletics-Mike Quade.
Seattle Mariners-John Moses, not official baserunning coach as near as I can tell, but made it to the majors as a player basically because of his baserunning ability.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays-Lee May.
Texas Rangers-Reid Nichols.
Toronto BLue Jays-Garth Iorg.

Arizona Diamondbacks-Eddie Rodriquez.
Atlanta Braves-Glenn Hubbard.
Chicago Cubs-Billy WIlliams. Already in the Hall of Fame.
Cincinnati Reds-Bill Doran, doubles as baserunning coach.
Colorado Rockies-Dallas Williams, triples as baserunning coach and outfield coach.
Florida Marlins-Tony Taylor.
Houston Astros-Jose Cruz Sr., doubles as baserunning coach.
Los Angelas Dodgers-John Shelby.
Milwaukee Brewers-Luis Salazar. Rod Carew (the hitting coach) also handles baserunning.
Montreal Expos-Perry Hill. Doubles as infield coach.
New York Mets-Mookie Wilson. Fast, I suppose, but no one on the team seams to have the baserunning coaching responsibilities.
Philadelphia Phillies-Tony Scott.
Pittsburg Pirates-Tommy Sandt.
San Diego Padres-Alan Trammel.
San Francisco Giants-Robby Thompson, doubles as their infield coach.
St. Louis Cardinals-Dave McKay, Lou Brock is their baserunning instructor (majors and minors).

In conclusion, the 1B coach is usually either someone fast or someone you never heard of.