Baseball notebook: Nationals to hire ex-Expo Martinez as next manager
WASHINGTON— Dave Martinez will get a chance to try to do what no Washington Nationals manager has accomplished: win a post-season series with the club.
Martinez agreed to a three-year contract plus an option with the Nationals, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Sunday, for a job that will make him a skipper in the majors for the first time. The agreement was first reported by The Washington Post.
The 53-year-old Martinez has been the bench coach for manager Joe Maddon for the past decade. The two were together with the Chicaco Cubs for the past three seasons, including that team’s 2016 World Series championship.
Before that, Martinez worked at Maddon’s side with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Martinez replaces Dusty Baker as Washington’s manager. Baker was let go a little more than a week ago. He had been given only a two-year contract and was dismissed after leading the Nationals to two NL East titles — with 95 wins in 2016 and 97 wins in 2017.
The Nationals have won four division titles since 2012 but have yet to win a playoff series.
Martinez played for nine majorleague franchises over 16 years, including four seasons with the Mon- treal Expos, the team that moved to Washington in 2005 and became the Nationals. He retired as a player in 2001.
MAXWELL ARRESTED: Bruce Maxwell, the Oakland A’s catcher who was the only Major League Baseball player to take a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality, was arrested Saturday night after a woman who was delivering food to his home accused him of pointing a gun at her.
Police in Scottsdale, Ariz., said Maxwell was booked on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and disorderly conduct. He was in custody pending his initial court appearance. The alleged incident occurred at around 6 p.m. and Scottsdale police spokesman Sgt. Tyler Johnson told AZCentral.com that it was unclear what had led up to the incident.
Maxwell, 26, took a knee during the national anthem last month, becoming the first MLB player to kneel during the anthem and following in the footsteps of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and many other NFL players in choosing that method or linking arms or raising a fist to raise awareness of police brutality and social injustice.
Last week, Maxwell said his action caused him to be refused service by a restaurant waiter who identified himself as a Trump supporter.
The waiter, Matt Henry, later told Fox News that Maxwell made up the story and said that he couldn’t serve a friend in the party who had an invalid ID.
Huntsville city councilman Devyn Keith also was with Maxwell. “(The waiter said) ‘You are that guy. You are the guy who took a knee,’ ” the councilman said. “And then everything changed.”