Boland: Yankees' Long a popular hitting coach

Talking with reporters Dec. 17 at Yankee Stadium after Curtis Granderson's official introduction as a Yankee, Alex Rodriguez gave his reason why the centerfielder's numbers would increase.

"I think the biggest thing for him is the Kevin Long factor,'' Rodriguez said that day, referring to the Yankees' hitting coach. "I think any player you bring into our lineup has an opportunity to improve by 10 or 15 percent on the numbers they've done . . . Kevin Long is going to be a really nice addition for him.''

A bit of hyperbole, perhaps, but A-Rod's comments are fairly representative of the confidence the Yankees' hitters have in Long, now in his fourth season as the team's hitting coach.

When A-Rod's remarks were repeated to him recently, Long said he hadn't heard about them when they were made and seemed taken aback.

"Alex saying that, it's special,'' Long said. "It means a lot to me.''

Four months later, Rodriguez remembered those comments and built on them, calling Long, among other things, "our secret weapon.''

"Kevin Long is one of a kind,'' Rodriguez said. "He's just a very gifted and special hitting coach and I think the Yankees . . . We're very lucky to have him.''

Rodriguez said Long's abilities run the gamut - from breaking down the complexities of the swing to the psychologist role every coach eventually must fill.

"He's a friend, he's a hitting coach, he's a great technician, knows everything about mechanics,'' Rodriguez said. "He just knows everything about the swing and mechanically has the rare ability to see something and put it into words right away.''

Mark Teixeira, mired in one of his traditional April slumps, said Long's ability to stay positive is just as big an asset.

"It's huge because this game, as a hitter, it's much more failure than success,'' Teixeira said. "So if you have a hitting coach who's always harping on failure, you're going to have a tough year. He just exudes confidence.''

Long, 43, was elevated to the big leagues after three years as the hitting coach with the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate in Columbus. He made his professional coaching debut with Class A Wilmington in 1997 after spending eight years (1989-96) trying, but ultimately failing, to make it to the majors in the Royals' organization as an outfielder.

Long, who hit .273 in the minors, said he made a pact with himself when he got into coaching.

"When I came into this, I said don't be too far away from your playing days," said Long, who started one season 16-for-100. "Remember how difficult it was, remember the ups and downs, remember the peaks and the valleys. It's not always going to be good.''

Teixeira said that although the assumption might be that because of the amount of failure involved in trying to hit a baseball, a hitting coach by nature would be positive, that hasn't always been his experience.

"Human nature is to expect results, to expect success, to be ultra-competitive and, yeah, there are coaches up and down. I've had coaches from Little League all the way until now that have been, quote, negative coaches,'' Teixeira said. "Sometimes that's part of the deal.''

But never with Long.

"If a guy's struggling, you don't think he knows it?'' Long said. "Of course he does. The last thing I want to do is beat him down. I want to be the guy that he can go to get some positive reinforcement.

"The message is, OK, well, this is what I like, these are the things that are going good right now, these are some issues that I'd like us to attack. And always use 'us' or 'we' instead of 'you' or 'I.' It's together. We're collaborating on the whole thing.''