Pirates third base coach Rick Sofield has been criticized a lot over the past two seasons because of his perceived penchant for being over-aggressive in sending runners home and getting them thrown out.
The list of critics, by the way, includes me. I penned this column a few weeks ago when Sofield got Sean Rodriguez thrown out at home in the top of the ninth in a 6-2 loss.
I got the chance to talk to Sofield a few days ago about some of his decisions. Here’s what I learned: being a third base coach is a heck of a lot harder and far more complicated than it seems.