Bobby Dickerson brings knee pads, a paddle glove, and passion to his job as Phillies infield instructor | Bob Brookover

Bobby Dickerson’s office sits just a few steps beyond the home dugout at Citizens Bank Park. His work supplies – knee pads, paddle gloves, undersize gloves, tennis balls, baseballs – are all tucked into a red equipment bag that he empties every game day afternoon about four hours before first pitch.

His title is infield coach, but teaching infield defense is more than Dickerson’s profession. It’s his passion and obsession, and he seriously feared this offseason that it might be taken away from him.

After six seasons as the Baltimore Orioles’ infield instructor and third-base coach, he was out of work as part of the purge that cost longtime manager Buck Showalter his job.

He interviewed for the job as the Phillies’ minor-league infield coordinator, but that went to Juan Castro, the man who fielded the final out of Roy Halladay’s perfect game in 2010.

“I was spooked for sure,” Dickerson said. “I’ve given my soul to the game and I think my reputation is pretty good in the industry. To not have a job in January was eye-opening to me. You’re sitting there saying, ‘Wow, everything I’ve done in the game has gone for naught now.’ And then Gabe [Kapler] called.”

Jose David Flores, the Phillies’ first-base coach and infield instructor last season, had left to be part of the Orioles’ new staff, creating an opening on Kapler’s staff. Dickerson was thrilled not only to have a job but also to remain in the big leagues with an up-and-coming young team.

The Phillies should be thrilled, too, because in a short period Dickerson, 53, has proven to be an old-school baseball coach open to analytics technology. Oh, yeah, and his work ethic is off the charts.

The players appear to love him. It’s a common sight to see infielders in the Phillies clubhouse seek out Dickerson to let him know they want his help. And it’s an entertaining sight to see those players down on their knees during Dickerson’s office hours handling rapid-fire grounders from the coach with a variety of different fielding instruments.

“I never did those [drills] before,” third baseman Maikel Franco said before a recent game. “Now I’m getting used to it and I feel confident because of those drills.”

It is showing on the field. Franco made just one error through his first 29 games. A year ago, he had three through 29 games and the year before that he also had three. Franco is never going to have the range needed to be considered an elite third baseman, but guys who catch what is hit at them are valuable, especially when they hit the way Franco has this season.

“This little drill – it’s the last thing that happens on the field before you throw a baseball,” Dickerson said in reference to the rapid-fire knee drills he conducts on a daily basis in front of the dugout.

“They may run 20 yards and get in front of it, but then this happens, then the transfer happens, and then they have to throw it accurately. I really believe in ball security and not bobbling the ball.

"I was fortunate to watch J.J. Hardy play defense in Baltimore. He wasn’t the most athletic guy, he wasn’t Ozzie Smith out there, but he never made a mistake. He was the guy we could put on a pedestal and say, ‘This is what happens when it’s done right.’ ”

Perhaps Franco has done so well because he was one of the first Phillies players to be introduced to Dickerson’s drills. Two days after being hired, Dickerson went to the Dominican Republic to meet with Franco and new Phillies shortstop Jean Segura.

“I knew they were huge pieces for us,” Dickerson said. “I spent three days with Jean, met his family, and got to know him a little bit. The relationship part helps when you start trying to teach them things. They see you are a human and not just someone condescending to them. You want them to see that you have a genuine care for their improvement and the team’s improvement.”

Dickerson has been seen on the field during batting practice getting down to rap hits of the early 2000s – Lil’ Jon got the beat to make his booty go – and the Mississippi native will drop some lines on players that can be understood only if you’re from Cajun country.

“I say things all the time,” Dickerson said. “I don’t even know what I’m saying is funny, but they laugh. [Aaron] Nola and I joke around a lot about the little Cajun sayings. Laissez les bon temps rouler. That means ‘Let the good times roll.’ That’s a New Orleans saying.”

As much as Dickerson likes to have fun, he admits he can also be a hard-nosed, tough baseball man. He learned how to play the infield from Brian Butterfield, the Chicago Cubs’ current third-base coach and infield instructor during his first season in pro ball.

That was with the New York Yankees’ system in 1987 and he has been a part of professional baseball every year since, breaking into the coaching ranks when he was still a player with Baltimore’s triple-A team in Rochester in 1993.

“He’s just a fun guy, very energetic and always joking around,” Phillies infielder Scott Kingery said. “Any drill you do, he’s always messing around and having fun with it. But at the same time he’s passionate about what he does and he wants you to focus and he wants you to get better.”

First baseman Rhys Hoskins said Dickerson ran a drill in spring training that required a catcher’s mask be worn.

“I had never seen anything like that before,” Hoskins said. “But it was all about teaching us to keep our head behind the ball. It helped break things down to its simplest terms.”

The game, of course, does not always seem so simple now, especially on the infield. Massive amounts of information about hitter tendencies have led to infield shifts and sometimes disagreements about where and how infielders should be playing. Dickerson embraces it all.

“When I was with Baltimore, we were always one of the highest shifting teams and we didn’t have a lot of computer-driven things,” Dickerson said. “We used spray charts.”

The information Dickerson receives now is far more sophisticated and comes from Mike Calitri, the Phillies’ manager of advance scouting, and Pat McFarlane, a quantitative analyst.

“Both those guys work real hard to position our infielders and I just try not to screw it up in the game,” Dickerson said. “We do a lot of talking about it because we want to know where the best place is to be in front of a ground ball.

"My experience helps them with what’s happening in the game, and their knowledge and ability to dig up research helps me. A lot goes into it. Where would we like to be and where does the situation allow us to be? It’s a work in a progress.”

Work is not a problem for Bobby Dickerson. He loves what he does and his joy for the job is infectious.