Tino Martinez eager for new role with Marlins

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JUPITER, Fla. (AP) - There was a time when Tino Martinez was certain that he would never coach.

It's not that he didn't want to, necessarily. It was more that the grind of baseball - travel, long days, late nights, time away from the family - had taken its toll over the course of 16 seasons in the major leagues.

Martinez recalls, "I said, `Never again.'''

Never say never.

The four-time World Series champion with the New York Yankees is back in the game, now in the first year of a three-year deal to be the Miami Marlins hitting coach.

He spent five seasons working with the Yankees as a spring-training instructor, and acknowledges that he always felt a little saddened when the club went north without him. So when the Marlins called late last year with an offer, Martinez was finally willing to listen.