I remember my father once asking me, “Do you know what the most difficult job on a baseball field is?” I went through all of the positions and he shook his head “no” at all of my suggestions. “The umpires, sweetie, have the toughest job.” I always thought that was funny coming from the old man, who had more than a slight problem with authority.

I think that one of the hardest gigs in baseball must be that of the third base coach. After all, nobody ever riffs about a first base coach or the bullpen coach. The bench coach never gets called out. But third base coaches are open game. Steve Goldman had a nice little piece about these brave souls a few days ago at BP. Check it out.