CLEVELAND, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Eddie Murray, one of only three players ever to record 3,000 hits and 500 homers, Wednesday was named hitting coach of the Cleveland Indians.
Murray, 45, has spent the last four years on the staff of the Baltimore Orioles, spending the first two as bench coach and the last two as first base coach. He replaces Clarence Jones, who was released as part of a coaching shakeup following the Indians' loss to the Seattle Mariners in the Division Series.
He is making a return to the organization where he spent 2 1/2 of his 21 major league seasons. In 1995, Murray was a part of the Indians' first American League pennant winner in 41 years.
The eight-time All-Star and Hall of Famers Hank Aaron and Willie Mays are the only players to record 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.
A career .287hitter, Murray played for the Orioles from 1977-88 and returned to Baltimore in a trade with the Indians on July 21, 1996. On September 6, 1996 at Oriole Park, Murray became only the 15th player in major league history to record 500 career home runs.
Murray ranks 11th in hits with 3,255 and 17th in home runs with 504. He is baseball's all-time leader in RBI among switch hitters with 1917, which ranks him seventh all time. He and Pete Rose are the only switch-hitters to collect 3,000 hits.
A three-time Gold Glove award winner, Murray holds the major-league record for most games played by a first baseman (2,413) and most career assists (1,865) by a first baseman. He won the American League Rookie of the Year award in 1977 and was a member of the Orioles' 1983 World Series championship team.
Murray had 75 or more RBI in each of his first 20 major league seasons, a major-league record. The streak was snapped in 1997 when he drove in only 18 runs in limited action for Anaheim and the Dodgers.
Murray was traded by Baltimore to the Dodgers and played three years in Los Angeles (1989-91) before signing as a free agent with the New York Mets. He spent two years with the Mets before signing with the Indians in 1994.
