Richard Michael Sofield (born December 16, 1956) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He was the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

third base coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decision ...

from 2013 to 2016 and was the

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of their Class-A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

team the

West Virginia Power The Charleston Dirty Birds are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a MLB Partner League, partner league ...

during the 2012 season.

Early life

Sofield was born in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...

but moved to

Morris Plains, New Jersey Morris Plains is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,153, an increase of 621 (+11.2%) from the 2010 census count of 5,532, which in turn reflected a ...

as a child. In New Jersey, he played multiple sports and was offered a scholarship to play

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but turned it down in order to pursue a professional baseball career.

Playing career

A first round draft pick (13th overall) of the

1975 Major League Baseball Draft The 1975 Major League Baseball draft took place prior to the 1975 MLB season. The draft saw the California Angels select Danny Goodwin first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1975 Major League Base ...

, Sofield played for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

from to , appearing in 207 games and recording 612

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s for a career average of .243.

Coaching career

After his playing career ended, he became the assistant baseball coach at the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

and later the head coach at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

(1988–1994). After leaving Utah, he was a minor league manager for the

Harrisburg Senators The Harrisburg Senators are a Minor League Baseball team who play in the Eastern League, and are the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. The team is based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at FNB Field on Cit ...

, Las Vegas 51s, and

Colorado Springs Sky Sox The Colorado Springs Sky Sox were a Minor League Baseball team in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and was the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers (2015–2018), Colorado R ...

He served as the head baseball coach at USC Beaufort and worked extensively with

Baseball Factory , area_served = United States, USA , key_people = Steve Sclafani (CEO) , services = Baseball player development , revenue = , operating_income = , net_income = , aum = , assets = ...

, a player development and scouting service. His final day with USCB was Monday, November 14, 2011. Sofield's record with the NAIA Sand Sharks over three seasons was 101–56. In 2011, USCB was ranked No. 18 in the NAIA Top 25, the highest spot in program history.USCB Press Release
/ref> Sofield and Pirates manager

Clint Hurdle Clinton Merrick Hurdle (born July 30, 1957) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and manager who currently serves as both the interim bench and hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Hurdle played ...

first met in 1975 in the minor leagues and have stayed friends ever since. Sofield also previously worked with Pirates general manager Neal Huntington, assistant general manager Kyle Stark, Triple-A Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor, and pitching coordinator Jim Benedict. He served as a coach for the

under Hurdle from 2013 to 2016Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
/ref> In February 2018, Rick accepted the head varsity coaching position at Hilton Head Preparatory School, in HHI, SC.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sofield, Rick 1956 births Living people Baseball players from Cheyenne, Wyoming Colorado Springs Sky Sox managers Denver Bears players Elizabethton Twins players Las Vegas 51s managers Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball outfielders Minnesota Twins players Orlando Twins players Pittsburgh Pirates coaches Tacoma Twins players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Toledo Mud Hens players South Carolina Gamecocks baseball coaches Utah Utes baseball coaches Visalia Oaks players Wisconsin Rapids Twins players Morristown High School (Morristown, New Jersey) alumni Baseball players from Morris County, New Jersey Baseball coaches from Wyoming Baseball coaches from New Jersey 20th-century American sportsmen