The Washington Nationals fired hitting coach Rick Eckstein on Monday, a move manager Davey Johnson called "a shocker" in spite of the team's offensive woes this season. Washington entered Monday night's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates stuck in a three-game losing streak and with a disappointing 48-50 record. The team is tied for 28th overall in runs and ranks 27th in batting average. But Johnson was obviously upset with the decision by general manager Mike Rizzo. "I've experienced a lot of things in my career -- I've been traded, I've been released, I've been sold, I've been fired. But today is arguably the toughest day I've had in baseball," said Johnson, his voice cracking with emotion. "I respect Rick Eckstein. I think he's a great coach, one of the best hitting instructors in baseball. And he's just a great gentleman. So it hurts." Eckstein was hired as the Nationals' batting coach before the 2009 season. He was the longest-tenured hitting coach in the NL East. And now he's out of a job. "Davey and I have a great respect for each other. This was a general manager's decision," Rizzo said. "I respect Davey to the point where I run everything that we do by him. There are certain things that we may not agree on and this was one of them. I thought we needed a change, and so I made the change." Source: ESPN
