O's coach Bobby Dickerson has his winter ball team in first place

During the stretch on the calender where he could be enjoying some well-deserved time away from baseball after a long season, Orioles third base coach Bobby Dickerson is still going to a ballpark every day.

After turning down several chances over the years to manage winter ball, except for one season in Mexico, Dickerson decided to accept an offer this year.

One week into the season in the Dominican Republic, he has led Gigantes del Cibao to a 6-1 mark, the best record in the six-team league. He's getting help there from O's coach Einar Diaz and trainer Chris Poole.

"So far, so good," Dickerson said by phone last night from the Dominican. "It's been a learning experience. This early in the year, most of the pitchers we have are limited to a few innings by their respective organizations. So we have a lot of pitchers, 13 or 14 per night, and you can change the whole group the next night.

"We have two players from the Orioles in Garabez Rosa and Aderlin Rodriguez, who played first base for (Single-A) Frederick. He's playing really well right now and Rosa got a game-winning hit the other night."

The 51-year-old Dickerson has an impressive baseball resume that includes managing in the minors at various levels. The last time he did that he was skipper of the Triple-A Iowa Cubs in 2009 and interim manager for the Orioles' Triple-A Norfolk team in 2010. He managed Mesa in the Arizona Fall League in 2002 and Mexicali to the 2009 playoffs in the Mexican Winter League.

The O's third base coach since 2013, Dickerson was approached this summer by Gigantes first-year general manager Ismael Cruz, the Los Angeles Dodgers' vice president of international scouting.

"When we first talked, I wasn't looking to work in winter ball, it wasn't on my radar," Dickerson said. "I was just focused on being the third base coach for the Orioles and hope to do that the next 20 years. But we talked about some different things and they made it work and I decided to do this.

"I talked to Buck (Showalter) about doing it and told him I wasn't looking for anything (different), that I loved coaching for the Orioles. He was 100 percent behind it and gave me some advice."

Dickerson's roster is made up mostly of Double-A and Triple-A level players. Former major league hurler Chad Gaudin is his closer and former O's minor league pitcher Terry Doyle has thrown 10 scoreless innings. Former Oriole Felix Pie joins his team today. Rosa is batting .240 in six games and Rodriguez is 3-for-6 in two games.

Current major leaguers also sometimes take part in winter ball. Hanser Alberto of the Texas Rangers is the Gigates shortstop. Also, the club may activate former Oriole Nelson Cruz later in the season. Cruz told Dickerson he might want to get some games under his belt in advance of the start of the World Baseball Classic.

The regular season ends Dec. 21 and then Dickerson will return to the United States for Christmas, before flying back to the Dominican for the playoffs.

"It is a time commitment for sure and I knew it," Dickerson said. "But I want to continue to learn and these opportunities don't get presented very often. You know, I'm an infield coach by heart and by trade. There are a lot of Latin infielders in the game. The more I know about how to better present myself to Latin players is helpful and it was an opportunity I didn't think I should turn down."

This is no baseball vacation for Dickerson. What he is doing now is hard work, and there is pressure on the players and coaching staff in winter ball. Managers have been known to be fired in the Dominican after a bad week.

"That is 100 percent correct," Dickerson said. "Five losses and you can be in the owner's office trying to figure out what went wrong. A lot of times it falls directly on the manager. Baseball is very serious here and any night you lose, it doesn't mean you got beat. The view is you did something wrong. We all know (in the majors) sometimes you get beat and the other team outperforms you. Nothing matters here except winning the game. You can make 12 errors, but just get the W. It's intense."