Edgar Martinez named as new Mariners hitting coach

Edgar Martinez

By KIRO 7 Web Staff and Associated Press

SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners announced on Saturday they had named Edgar Martinez as the new Mariners Major League hitting coach.

According to the announcement, Martinez would be in uniform beginning on Saturday, June 20.

“Watching the club it had become apparent to me that we had reached the point that a change was necessary,” said the Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations -- Jack Zduriencik. “I appreciate Howard Johnson’s professionalism and work ethic, but we simply were not getting the results that we expect and require.”

The person who had been serving as hitting coach, Howard Johnson, was re-assigned to the Mariners minor league system, according to the release.

Martinez spent his entire 18-year major league career with the Mariners and is regarded as one of the best right-handed hitters of his generation.

Popular with his teammates and fans, he joins a team that has the worst batting average in the majors at .233 and ranks 28th in runs scored.

The 52-year-old Martinez played 2,055 career games with Seattle and hit .312 with a .418 on-base percentage for his career, and won two AL batting titles. He has spent the past several seasons working as a guest hitting instructor during spring training.