Put me in, Coach

Tuesday night, second inning. Mike Cameron doubles,* Hall singles. The third base coach holds Cameron at third so the A's catcher goes for the out at first. He overthrows, so the first base coach sends Hall to second and the third base coach sends Cameron home.

The Sox pick up two more unearned runs in the inning, with a little help from A's pitcher Dallas Braden and sloppy defense. You could argue, however, that the runs were orchestrated by the Sox coaches.

Which made me wonder, just how many coaches do the Sox have? I found this list on their website:

Managers & Coaches
#	Name	Position
47	Terry Francona	Manager
28	Dave Magadan	Batting Coach
52	John Farrell	Pitching Coach
50	Ron Johnson	First Base Coach
10	Tim Bogar	Third Base Coach
35	DeMarlo Hale	Bench Coach
57	Gary Tuck	Bullpen Coach

It seems like a lot when there are only nine fielders and a designated hitter to worry about at any time during the game. But I guess when you factor in the bullpen, and the fact that a player might get called up from the minors and be in the field an hour or two later (not quite the situation with Jed Lowrie).... and with the number of injuries this year it seems like one coach would be needed just to keep track of them all (okay boys, where is Ellsbury, anyone seen him in the locker room?)

Three Sox made the Sport's Illustrated list of the 50 highest paid athletes... If you're going to spend that much money, I guess it makes sense to hire a few coaches.




*Did you know the Sox, with  67 games remaining, are on track to break the record for number of doubles in a season. The record is 376 doubles and was set by the Texas Rangers in 2008.