Edgar Martinez named new Mariners hitting coach

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The Mariners are looking to the past to reinvigorate the worst hitting team in baseball, hiring Edgar Martinez as their hitting coach Saturday and reassigning Howard Johnson to the minor league system.

The surprising announcement was made before the second game of a weekend series against the first-place Houston Astros. The surprise wasn't so much the re-assignment of Johnson but the hiring of Martinez.

"Watching the club it had become apparent to me that we had reached the point that a change was necessary," Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik said in a statement. "I appreciate Howard Johnson's professionalism and work ethic, but we simply were not getting the results that we expect and require."

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

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I'll just post three numbers to remind people of Edgar's greatness.

.579/.652/1.053

Those are his lifetime numbers against Mariano Rivera. GOAT DH and hopefully future HOFer. However, I don't even think Edgar da Gawd can help the Mariners offense. Well unless he suits back up for them again. He'll probably still be the best hitter on their lineup.