Kevin Long, guru gone bad?

[Vin]

I'm in the camp of believing Long is neither significantly helpful nor a detriment to the team's hitters during the playoffs. Most of them are experienced veterans who don't have to be told what they need to do.

Granderson improved considerably against lefties the past two seasons. Does Long deserve credit for helping him make adjustments? I'm sure he does to an extent but ultimately Granderson is the one who steps into the batter's box.

Conversely, he, Swisher and A-Rod have thusfar been god awful this postseason. Should Long take the blame for their shortcomings? Well, mechanics and fundamentals are worked on in practice, not during a game, so I doubt it.

Bottom line.

[rajah]

Assuming the Yankees do not have an offensive resurrection, Long has to go, for PR if not other reason.

Even the anti-George, his son Hal, needs at least a couple of scape goats.

And in baseball, coaches and managers, fairly or not, are inevitably judged by the results when the cameras are on.

[fredgmuggs]

Assuming the Yankees do not have an offensive resurrection, Long has to go, for PR if not other reason.

Even the anti-George, his son Hal, needs at least a couple of scape goats.

And in baseball, coaches and managers, fairly or not, are inevitably judged by the results when the cameras are on.

Win or lose I wouldn't mind a complete organizational shake-up starting with Cashman, Girardi, and the coaching staff. I think sometimes you just need a new voice.

[ThePinStripes]

We always seem to have situational hitting problems, for as long as I can remember. And it's amplified in the playoffs.

Why is this? If anything, they should be used to the pressure because they're veterans and all their season is under a microscope.

[millervt]

Win or lose I wouldn't mind a complete organizational shake-up starting with Cashman, Girardi, and the coaching staff. I think sometimes you just need a new voice.

Maybe we can swap with boston, they need a housecleaning too. I'd love to see bobby V. versus the new york press...

[4bronxbombers]

Maybe we can swap with boston, they need a housecleaning too. I'd love to see bobby V. versus the new york press...

[madjack]

Maybe we can swap with boston, they need a housecleaning too. I'd love to see bobby V. versus the new york press...

[Sparky]

We always seem to have situational hitting problems, for as long as I can remember. And it's amplified in the playoffs.

Why is this? If anything, they should be used to the pressure because they're veterans and all their season is under a microscope.

We didn't have this problem when we were winning back-to back-to back WCs.

[apalradio]

We didn't have this problem when we were winning back-to back-to back WCs.

That's been replaced by back to back early playoff exits.

[boog204]

I'm in the camp that hitting coaches and pitching coaches are immensely overrated in their overall influence. These guys are pro's and for the most part know how to do their craft. It is very rare that you hear of a coach who comes in and makes a major influence on the whole. Sometimes there's a guy or two who are affected but for the most part the hitting coach is there to add support. Should we bow out with this same offensive ineptitude, i'd like to see a change. Not because it was KLong's fault, but b/c we need a change. The same goes for some of the players as well but that is easier said than done.

[Sixty one]

It's amazing to me that Long and Granderson have not been able to figure out why his strikeouts have increased significantly in the past month.

[Bozidar]

I think it's a good idea to switch hitting coaches every few years. Get some new faces in there with different ideas, it rounds out hitters vs them being one dimensional.

I dont think Long is doing anything wrong, you can't blame someone for having a single philosophy.

But one philosophy for hitting doesn't work with 15 hitters..

Someone noted that Long was doing good work with the minor leaguers. Minor leaguers who had been with a different coach, and were learning and adjusting their current approaches with Long's. Thus applying what was working for them from one coach, and improving it with input from another. Exactly what i'm getting at..

the team should probably employ 5 batting coaches.. they can afford it.

[kongull]

Needs to be fired for sure.

[AuroraBomberalis]

Our hitters have a beautiful approach to hitting. They seem to have a great understanding of how to stay back on the ball and hit it where it's pitched. Give the man a lifetime contract.

[GordonGecko]

Our hitters have a beautiful approach to hitting. They seem to have a great understanding of how to stay back on the ball and hit it where it's pitched. Give the man a lifetime contract.

Kevin Long = the Brian Schottenheimer of baseball.

You're not smart enough to understand his advanced coaching. How dare you question him, he's a genius!

[4bronxbombers]

I read an article today that stated the Steinbrenner's, Cashman etc were not getting rid of Long. I will look for the article so I can post it.

[AuroraBomberalis]

I read an article today that stated the Steinbrenner's, Cashman etc were not getting rid of Long. I will look for the article so I can post it.

This current leadership has shown a stubborn "stick with it" philosophy from top to bottom. I don't know if it's the tendency to want to avoid the volatility that George had or what, but it wouldn't surprise me if they don't make any changes.

[flymick24]

what i find interesting is that a couple of teams in the league are starting to implement 2 hitting coaches simultaneously.. if only to get an extra set of eyes on the players and also to spread themselves out more among all the hitters on a team at any given time (1 guy can only do so much)

if it weren't too big of a blow to long's ego, i'd want our team to maybe to look into doing that

[35Knucklecurve]

what i find interesting is that a couple of teams in the league are starting to implement 2 hitting coaches simultaneously. if only to get an extra set of eyes on the players and also to spread themselves out more among all the hitters on a team at any given time (1 guy can only do so much)

if it weren't too big of a blow to long's ego, i'd want our team to maybe to look into doing that

There seem to be some who are willing to take it one step further and have a hitting coach for righties and another for lefties. Ditto for pitchers. I think that's taking it a little too far. A lot of players learn more from their teammates than they do from coaches. Maybe the veterans need to get more involved with evaluating/mentoring. That used to be a given, but I don't know that it's being passed down now the way it once was.

[BennyTheJetRodriguez]

We didn't have this problem when we were winning back-to back-to back WCs.

The difference between a hit that helps you win a playoff game and a meaningless hit in the playoffs is the outcome of the game. The Yankee teams of 1994-2003 were just flat out superior to the current team. In the world of public perception, winning turns every player into the Tortoise, and losing with talent turns every player into the Hare. If you think back to those championship runs, majority of the big hits were home runs. The difference is those teams had more men on base and better pitching relative to their competition.

[ojo]

there has to be a middle ground between KL's job description and 'set it and forget it'.

could it be advance scouting? it just looks like all too frequently the Yankees' vulnerabilities at the plate get magnified beyond that of other (somewhat) qualified teams. they seem to turn into the San Diego Padres.

blah.

[grizy]

Wieters looked to the dugout for instructions for every god damn pitch.

It's a pretty good bet someone was bindering it up.

And it's basically a certainty the Yankees is the best scouted team every year. It's not about hate or anything like that. Yankees is the most high profile team with the highest probability to end up in the playoffs every year. We also have more experienced star players that everyone in MLB has scouted for years, if for nothing else, for when they were looking at FAs.

[awy]

what i find interesting is that a couple of teams in the league are starting to implement 2 hitting coaches simultaneously.. if only to get an extra set of eyes on the players and also to spread themselves out more among all the hitters on a team at any given time (1 guy can only do so much)

if it weren't too big of a blow to long's ego, i'd want our team to maybe to look into doing that

given the money involved in teh players themselves this is the obvious move. the yankees should have the best analytic staff out there in every single aspect of the game.

[mitchrock]

Kevin Long? He's been coaching more like the SHELLEY LONG!






I thought it was funny.

This is funny!

[False1]

Wieters looked to the dugout for instructions for every god damn pitch.

It's a pretty good bet someone was bindering it up.

And it's basically a certainty the Yankees is the best scouted team every year. It's not about hate or anything like that. Yankees is the most high profile team with the highest probability to end up in the playoffs every year. We also have more experienced star players that everyone in MLB has scouted for years, if for nothing else, for when they were looking at FAs.

Can't disprove it, but I'm skeptical. Again, were these scouting reports not available to the Orioles just a few weeks prior when they were on the fence of either winning the AL East or alternatively missing the playoffs entirely? Cuz the same pitchers got lit up by the same offense.