The Ultimate Guide to What Does a Baseball Bench Coach Do?
Baseball comes with many coaches like pitching Coach, Hitting Coach, and bench coach. It is quite obvious what a pitching and hitting coach does, they would assess pitchers and hitters respectively however it is not obvious what a bench coach does. So, what is a bench coach?
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What Does a Baseball Bench Coach Do: His Responsibilities
The bench coach is considered the right hand of the manager. He looks after everything and gives suggestions to the manager in making decisions and sometimes fills the manager’s duty temporarily.
Responsibilities of a Bench Coach
By saying that a bench coach full fill’s manager’s duty it doesn’t mean that the bench coaches don’t do anything else, they can be the busiest person in baseball as well. So, what are the responsibilities of a Bench Coach? These coaches tend to guide managers especially when they are new and don’t know much. Bench coaches arrange spring exercises, warmups, and stretching routines for players and look after pitchers as well.
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Bench Coach and Manager’s Responsibilities
As explained earlier bench coaches serve with managers and they often take their places too. When a bench coach takes over manager’s responsibilities. The bench coach usually takes over the manager’s duty when he is not available in the picture. There can be many reasons why a manager is not at his duty for example if he is suspended for some games or he is on leave for his kid’s graduation and maybe he is ejected because of an argument on the field and many other reasons. As long as the manager is unable to perform, the bench coach is always there to take over his responsibilities. We can understand this by thinking of the bench coach as vice president of America and manager as the president of America.
First Bench Coach in MLB History
Teams started to keep bench coaches in 1905 before 1905 only hitting coaches and pitching coaches were used to serve their teams. Who was the first bench coach in MLB history? George Huff served as the first bench coach in MLB history.
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How much does a Bench Coach make?
Bench coach earnings depend on their performance. Their salary can be lesser than other coaches or far more than most of the coaches. How much does a bench coach make? A typical bench coach’s salary starts from $18500 to $100k. However, if we talk about how the majority of bench coaches make then it would be around $31k to $75k, and $100k are for exceptional cases.
How much does a Bench Coach make in MLB?
It’s different for MLB coaches than ordinary coaches, they can do more than a typical bench coach. Their starting salaries are equal to their peak salary. So, how much does a bench coach make in MLB? MLB bench coaches can make up to $150k to $200k per season. They are highly paid among most other coaching companions in MLB. For instance, they can make more than the first or second base coach but less than the hitting or pitching coach. They get approximately $1 million annually. Many bench coaches had maximum salaries. Here are some highly paid bench coaches.
- Bruce Bochy, Mike Scioscia, and Joe Maddon were paid $6 million per year.
- Terry Francona made $4.2 million every year.
- Ned Yost made $3.7 million every year.
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Why are Bench Coaches Important?
Bench coaches are considered as essential to their teams as any other coach or manager. Although bench coaching started in 1905 since then it has gained a lot more importance than ever. Bench coaches are important because many baseball teams have a higher rate of bench coaches who tend to become managers afterward. Bench coaches work very near the managers and they look around almost everything hence they are really important for baseball teams. They also relay scouting information from front offices to club players. This is why bench coaches are important.
Don Zimmer as a Bench Coach
Don Zimmer played as a baseball player with numerous teams like the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Washington Senators. He played from 1954-1966 after that he joined the New York Yankees as a bench coach in 1966. Zimmer became a tremendous coach and served the New York Yankees very well. It was his approach that led the New York Yankees to win four World Series Titles. He also served the team when their manager Joe Torre was on leave due to cancer. In 2003 he played for the Tampa Bay Rays and left the New York Yankees. He served new and young players of the team and trained them. Don Zimmer’s work as a bench coach is all-time commendable.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a Baseball Manager and a Coach?
The main difference between a baseball manager and a coach lies in their duties, the baseball manager manages the team whereas many baseball coaches work under baseball managers. Coaches work together to make everything better for the team.
How many Coaches does a Baseball Team have?
For many years there were four coaches on each baseball team. However, by 1970 the number of coaches began to increase, and now baseball teams are allowed to have six coaches in total.
How do you Become a Baseball Coach?
One can become a baseball coach by pursuing any degree and then taking specific certification in coaching. After coaching he must build networks within the baseball teams and lastly gain as much experience as he can because experience is very essential for baseball coaches.
Is Coaching Baseball Hard?
Coaching baseball teams can be complicated. One needs to have experience in coaching and excellent communication skills. The key to coaching is to motivate the players to perform best hence a coach should have the best communication skills.
The Bottom Line on What Does a Baseball Bench Coach Do?
Every coach has a particular job, so does a bench coach, they are considered essential for baseball teams. Why? Because everything in the team is well managed as long as they are present. From helping team managers to organizing training for players and taking over manager’s duties when he is not there, baseball coaches are a full package for baseball teams.
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