The playing career of Dave Hansen began in Los Angeles with the Dodgers and concluded in Seattle with the Mariners.
His coaching career will be taking a similar path, as Hansen, who was fired as the hitting coach of the Dodgers just after the 2012 season concluded, has taken the same job with the Mariners as reported by the team’s official website.
Announcing the hire was Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik, who replaces former hitting coach Chris Chambliss with the 43-year-old Hansen.
Hansen took over as the hitting coach for the Dodgers on July 20, 2011, replacing Jeff Pentland, who ironically was a candidate considered for the job in Seattle. Pentland is the hitting coach for the Tacoma Rainiers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Mariners.
He was the only coach on the 2012 staff that was not retained for the 2013 season.
“Seattle was the first call, within hours,” Hansen said.
“There were other teams involved as the process went on, but Jack and Eric were persistent and they had been keeping an eye on me since I first interviewed two years ago.
“They just wanted to make it happen and I was more than happy to do it. It’s safe to say the Seattle Mariners were my No. 1 choice.”
Hansen marks the first coaching change under Mariners’ manager Eric Wedge’s regime and is the 11th hitting coach hired by the franchise in a 12-year span, succeeding names like: Paul Molitor, Don Baylor and Pentland.
Prior to joining the Dodgers as a coach on Nov. 22, 2010, Hansen spent four years as a Minor League instructor with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Dodgers ranked 16th in the league with a .252 batting average, but near the bottom in runs scored, crossing the plate 637 times, good for 26th in the league.
Only the San Francisco Giants (103) hit fewer home runs than the Dodgers did (116) in all of baseball. This all despite the Dodgers boasting a lineup consisting of Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez.
The candidates for the Dodgers’ current vacancy include Dodgers special assistant Mickey Hatcher and former Cubs and Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo.
