Alan Schwarz, a contributor to ESPN The Magazine, is filing regular Pulsecards from spring training. Today he's feeling a little morbid.

There's one hitting coach in the big leagues who isn't kidding when he tells a player, "I'll bury you."

Phillies instructor Richie Hebner would command some respect by virtue of his 18 years in the big leagues, but when a guy spends his offseasons as a gravedigger you tend to take him seriously. "You not feeling good?" Hebner asks when approached about his little hobby. "I can build you a nice condo down there."

Hebner began helping his father in the West Roxbury, Mass., family business when he was a sophomore in high school. He kept it up during his minor league and even major league offseasons. Hey, when you make only a few hundred K a year, you gotta make ends meet.

Then again, maybe money isn't the issue anymore. "If I hit the lotto, I'd still do it," he says. "I was digging at the boneyard before spring training this year. It's a nice, quiet job. Nobody backtalks."

It takes Hebner about two hours to dig a six-foot-deep grave. With about 2,000 dug over the years, the Phillies know they'd better stay on his good side. "You betcha," center fielder Doug Glanville said.

Hitters, of course, require the tools of power, bat control and patience. What tools do gravediggers need? "Shovel," Glanville said.