Having chicken coach first base is an unsafe strategy

Today’s question: Just what is the job of the first-base coach, other than to pat the batter on the butt when he gets a base hit? To be fair, the first-base coach doesn’t just pat a batter on the butt when he gets a base hit. Sometimes he fist-bumps, too.

That was unnecessarily snarky, wasn’t it?

According to a 2011 article in the Wall Street Journal, major-league baseball coaches — including first and third bases, pitching, bench, bullpen — earn between $150,000 and $700,000 a year. Another thing I read said first-base coaches earn around $110,000 a year.

Whatever. The point is baseball teams pay guys a lot of money to stand around the first-base line and they expect something for their money.

The main thing a first base coach does is to coordinate the team’s running game. He’s the guy who studies each pitcher’s delivery time to determine the feasibility of a pickoff or a steal.

The first-base coach also relays signals from the bench — such as a hit and run — and judges fly balls and line drives and generally keeps the runner safe and well-advised.

As a joke, the Iowa Cubs once put a chicken mascot in as first-base coach. The runner got picked off. See a video at sportsonearth.com.

Hot guess: Next, I keep forgetting to tell you about this: The winner of the Guess the First 110-Degree Day contest was Steve Melvin of Scottsdale.

He was only 10 minutes off the mark on June 17 and as such is the winner of four Diamondbacks tickets for Sunday’s game.