Kevin Long (baseball)

Kevin Long
Long with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022
Philadelphia Phillies – No. 53
Outfielder / Hitting coach
Born: (1966-12-30) December 30, 1966 (age 57)
Van Nuys, California, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Teams
As Coach
Career highlights and awards

Kevin Richard Long (born December 30, 1966) is an American former minor league baseball player and the current hitting coach for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has formerly served as the hitting coach for the New York Yankees (2007–14), New York Mets (2015–17) and Washington Nationals (2018–21).

Playing career

[edit]

Long attended Thunderbird High School in Phoenix, Arizona.[1] There, he played baseball, basketball, and football. In 1982, he was a bat boy during spring training for the Milwaukee Brewers.[2] Long was coached by his father in youth baseball. He also earned MVP honors in the 1984 Babe Ruth League Southwest Regional tournament after hitting a game-winning grand slam one night and pitching out of a bases loaded, no outs jam to seal the victory the next.[3]

He attended the University of Arizona, alongside future MLB players Trevor Hoffman, J.T. Snow, and Scott Erickson.[4] Long was on the 1986 Arizona Wildcats team that won the NCAA Tournament.[5] In 1989, he was named a second-team All-American[6][7] and first-team Pac-10[8] and the Wildcats won the regular season conference title.[9] A three-year letter-winner, Long still holds the Arizona record for most extra-base hits in a game (five) and ranks in the top 10 in extra-base hits, doubles, multi-hit games, total bases, and runs scored.[10]

Long was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 31st round of the 1989 Major League Baseball Draft.[11] That year, he led the Class-A Eugene Emeralds in games played, at-bats, runs scored, hits, doubles, and RBI’s. He also ranked eighth among all Northwest League hitters with his .312 batting average in his rookie season. He missed most of the 1994 season after undergoing surgery on his left wrist.[10]

Coaching career

[edit]

At the end of spring training in 1997, Long, who was assigned to the Triple-A Omaha Royals, decided to retire, asking instead for a coaching job.[7][12] He made his professional managing debut with the Class-A Wilmington Blue Rocks.[13] That year, he helped a young Carlos Beltran learn how to switch hit.[7] He was named the Northwest League's co-Manager of the Year after leading the Spokane Indians to the league title in 1999.[10]

Long next served as the hitting coach for the Wichita Wranglers in Double-A. It was there that he and manager Keith Bodie developed Long's popular net drill, an exercise used to help players shorten their swing.[14] In 2001, he used the drill to turn Brandon Berger into a 40-home run player.[15] He then moved up to Triple-A as the hitting coach for the Omaha Royals.[16] When he didn't get an opportunity in 2004 to interview for the job of hitting coach for the big league team, he moved to the New York Yankees organization.[7] Long served as hitting coach for the Columbus Clippers in Triple-A from 2004 to 2006.[17][18]

Long was promoted to hitting coach for the New York Yankees in 2007.[17] That year, the Yankees offense ranked first in MLB in runs (968), hits (1,656), home runs (201), RBI (929), team batting average (.290), slugging percentage (.463), on-base percentage (.366) and total bases (2,649).[19] Long remained on the coaching staff after the Yankees hired Joe Girardi as manager for the 2008 season.[18]

Under Long, the 2009 Yankees led the league in runs (915), hits (1,604), walks (663), home runs (244), RBI (881), OBP (.362), and slugging (.478)[20] on their way to win the franchise's 27th World Series title. Following the 2010 season, the Yankees signed Long to a three-year contract.[21] He was fired following the 2014 season.[22]

On October 23, 2014, Long was hired by the New York Mets to be their hitting coach.[23] In his first season there, the 2015 Mets won the National League pennant. Long helped turn Daniel Murphy into a power hitter; he hit seven homers in the 2015 postseason.[24] He was a candidate for the open managerial position after the 2017 season, but was ultimately turned down in favor of Mickey Callaway.[25]

Long left the Mets and became the hitting coach of the Washington Nationals on November 2, 2017.[26] The team then won the World Series in 2019. That year, the Nationals led the National League in batting average (.265) and on-base percentage (.342), and were in the top 10 in MLB in several other batting categories.[27]

On October 13, 2021, Long left the Nationals to become the hitting coach of the Philadelphia Phillies, reuniting him with former Yankees manager Joe Girardi.[28] The Phillies reached the World Series in 2022. On November 12, 2022, the Phillies signed Long to a two–year contract extension.[29][30]

Personal life

[edit]

When Long was still a player (though he does not remember which year), he suffered an accident during an offseason job with a drywall company, when a 25-pound sledgehammer hit him in the left eye, shattering three bones.[31]

Long resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with wife, Marcey, daughter, Britney, and sons Tracy and Jaron.[10] Jaron Long played professional baseball in the Yankees and Nationals organizations.

In 2011, Long released a memoir entitled Cage Rat: Lessons from a Life in Baseball by the Yankees Hitting Coach," where he detailed his approach to hitting.[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Thunderbird High School (Phoenix,AZ) - The Baseball Cube". TheBaseballCube.com. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Kepner, Tyler (May 28, 2011). "Kevin Long's Winding Road". New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  3. ^ Obert, Dick (August 17, 1984). "State titlist go long route to nationals". Arizona Republic. p. 43. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  4. ^ Shpigel, Ben (October 7, 2010). "As Yankees' Most Valuable Repairman, Long Revives Struggling Hitters". The New York Times. p. B17. Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
  5. ^ "1986 Baseball Team College World Series Champions HOF". University of Arizona Athletics. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "All-Americans (First, Second or Third Team)". University of Arizona Athletics. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d "Phillies' Long in search of hits, seeks 3rd Series ring - CBS Philadelphia". www.cbsnews.com. November 3, 2022. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  8. ^ "Pac-10 Conference All-Americans" (PDF). Pac-12.com. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  9. ^ Hansen, Greg (June 6, 2017). "4. Arizona loses 1989 baseball regionals". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d "Manager and Coaches | yankees.com: Team". New York Yankees. MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  11. ^ "1989 Kansas City Royals Draft Class - The Baseball Cube". TheBaseballCube.com. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  12. ^ Carig, Marc (March 6, 2011). "Yankees Q&A with hitting coach Kevin Long". NJ.com. The Star-Ledger. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  13. ^ Shpigel, Ben (October 6, 2010). "As Yankees' Most Valuable Repairman, Long Revives Struggling Hitters". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  14. ^ Rohan, Tim (March 13, 2015). "Mets Hitters and New Coach Start to Mesh, With Help From a Net". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  15. ^ Prunty, Brendan (October 14, 2010). "Unique 'home run drill' nets huge improvement in Yankees offense, particularly 2B Robinson Cano". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  16. ^ "13 Omaha Alums Chasing World Series Ring". MiLB.com. October 1, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  17. ^ a b "Yanks name Mattingly bench coach". ESPN.com. December 11, 2006. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  18. ^ a b "YANKEES COACHING STAFF". New York Post. November 21, 2007. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  19. ^ "Major League Leaderboards - 2007 - Batting". FanGraphs Baseball. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  20. ^ "Major League Leaderboards - 2009 - Batting". FanGraphs Baseball. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  21. ^ King, George A. (November 1, 2010). "Yankees reach new deal with Long, begin planning offseason". New York Post. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  22. ^ Heyman, Jon (October 10, 2014). "Sources: Yankees fire well-respected hitting coach Kevin Long". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  23. ^ "Ex-Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long hired by crosstown Mets". Sports Illustrated. October 23, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  24. ^ Kepner, Tyler (October 24, 2015). "How a Mets Coach Brought Out Daniel Murphy's Power". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  25. ^ Ackert, Kristie (October 23, 2017). "By hiring Mickey Callaway as manager, Mets may lose 'disappointed' Kevin Long". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  26. ^ Martin, Dan (November 2, 2017). "Kevin Long is leaving for a Mets rival". New York Post. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  27. ^ "Major League Leaderboards - 2019 - Batting". FanGraphs Baseball. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  28. ^ "Phillies hire Long from Nationals to be hitting coach". The Washington Times. Associated Press. October 13, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  29. ^ "Phillies sign hitting coach Kevin Long to a two-year extension". inquirer.com. November 12, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  30. ^ "Phillies reach 2-year deal with hitting coach Long (source)". MLB.com. November 12, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  31. ^ Jennings, Chad (March 14, 2010). "Hitting coach Long has players' respect". LoHud.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
[edit]
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Unknown
 Wilmington Blue Rocks hitting coach
1997 		Succeeded by
Unknown
Preceded by Wilmington Blue Rocks manager
1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Spokane Indians manager
1999 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Unknown
 Wichita Wranglers hitting coach
2000-2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Unknown
 Omaha Royals hitting coach
2002-2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Columbus Clippers hitting coach
2004-2006 		Succeeded by
Preceded by New York Yankees hitting coach
2007–2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by New York Mets hitting coach
2015–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Washington Nationals hitting coach
2018–2021 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Philadelphia Phillies hitting coach
2022–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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