Tychco,
I think I may not have clarified my point and rather than comeing across as "positive" input from coaches it came across as negative.
The coach is invalueable to the game on the field, during the game. He is there to put the best 9 on the field for THAT game, make adjustments, call for a bunt single when the 3rd baseman is playing deep, etc. What those players do with it once the ball is in play is where the fun starts!
Point is, coaches are the 10th and 11th man in the lineup and sometimes, especially in a tight game, become your leadoff and clean-up hitters respectively (figuratively, obviously).
In your example, you actually answered your own question. You say the coach knows his players being with them everyday. Throwing the 4th pitcher out there...maybe you guys needed a junkballer to throw the batters off and keep them guessing, reaching, etc. No idea what school you are from but I bet your pitcher did not have many k's and a bunch of pop-ups and ground balls...
Jacket said it well..."Fodder to criticize": A man who cannot admit a mistake while he points out the mistakes of others is going to draw criticism and rightly so. A fair man will still be criticized - by those who are uninformed or have an ax to grind - but those who know him will defend him.