Seattle Mariners pitching coach Rick Waits (47) talks with Hisashi Iwakuma, center, through an interpreter, foreground left, in the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox in Boston, Aug. 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

 Michael Dwyer

Longtime Tucsonan Rick Waits is surely enjoying the top season of any pitching coach in the majors. Waits’ Seattle Mariners lead all of baseball in ERA (3.00), fewest runs allowed (473) and opponent’s batting average (.228). Waits spent the previous 11 seasons as a minor-league pitching instructor for the Mets and Mariners before getting his own big-league staff this year. He’s an overnight success at 62.

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