Jim Hickey and Davey Martinez were both on Joe Maddon’s staff in Tampa Bay, as the Rays’ pitching and bench coach, respectively, and the 59-year-old Hickey, who is reuniting with Martinez in the nation’s capital as the Washington Nationals’ new bench coach said Monday, in an interview with reporters, that he’s been impressed with the growth he’s seen from the skipper in D.C. over the years.
“Watching Davey — I believe 2008 was our first year together with Tampa Bay,” Hickey said, “... and just watching him go from almost a guest in Spring Training to a really, really good bench coach, to winning the World Series in Chicago and [then] to winning it on his own, especially after the start to that season, holding that together, I think that’s probably the most impressive thing that I’ve seen him do as far as being in the manager’s seat anyway.