Kevin Long - Cage Rat: Lessons from a Life in Baseball by the Hitting Coach of the Yankees

CAGE RAT

LESSONS FROM A LIFE IN BASEBALL
BY THE YANKEES HITTING COACH

KEVIN LONG
WITH GLEN WAGGONER

To Marcey

Thanks, baby...

For being the most amazing wife a man could ask for...

For being my best friend, confidante, and lover for life...

For being the best mom in the world to our three kids...

For all your support and love, every step of our way together.

Thanks, baby!

To Britney, Tracy, and Jaron

You guys are almost as amazing as your mother.
Thanks for all your understanding and support.
We made it on nothing but love for a lot of years,
but you hung in there like champions.

Contents

Introduction
Thanks, Coach by Alex Rodriguez

Kevin Long and I first met in Tampa in 2004 during spring training, but we didnt really start getting to know each other until that September. Thats when major-league rosters expand from twenty-five to forty, and also when a few coaches move from the minors to the big clubKevin came up from Columbus. We hit it off right out of the box, and we talked some about hitting, sure, but we didnt really work together. Don Mattingly was the Yankees hitting coach, so even though Kevin and I wore the same uniform, our relationship at first was personal rather than professional. The next year, same dealwe talked some during spring training 05, and then that September he came up during roster expansion, plus we continued to talk during spring training in 2006. During those brief encounters, our relationship picked up a little momentum on its way to becoming a great friendship.

That early friendship turned out to be really important to me after the 2006 season, when I asked him for a huge favor.

I felt like Id struggled during the 2006 season, and the day that Detroit knocked us out in the AL Division Series, I knew what I needed to do about it. I promised myself, Donnie, manager Joe Torre, and general manager Brian Cashman that I was going to go home to Florida and get into a really intense workout regimen for the winter, and get my game back to where I thought it should be. That is, I would spend the off-season trying to figure out what was broken and fix it.

Turned out that Kevin would play a big part in that. Early that fall, the Yankees promoted Donnie to bench coach and named Kevin hitting coach, so when he called up just to say hello, like he did with all the other guys, I jumped at the opportunity and asked him if he could possibly come see me in Florida so we could work on some things.

That was asking a lot. Kevin lives in Arizona, so it wasnt like I was offering him a vacation from the winter cold or anything. Plus he has a family that he adores. But he said Yes, sure in a New York minute. He came over to my home in Coral Gables, Florida, in early December, and we went right to work in my batting cage. (By the way, the title of this book? An absolutely perfect description of my good friend, Mr. Kevin Long.) We spent four days together that first trip, and he came back in mid-January for a quick visit to see how I was doing with the things wed talked about and worked on. Since then, a winter workout together has become part of our off-season routine, no matter what kind of season Im coming off of.

One big thing about Kevinmake that one huge thingis that within five minutes after meeting him, I knew that this was the kind of guy I could trust. I sensed immediatelyit came through loud and clearthat this guy wasnt going to bullshit me about anything. Thats why Kevin and I were good from day one.

At first, though, I didnt know exactly what to expect. He was a really nice guy and all, but wed never worked together on my swing. Once we started talking about our philosophies a little bit, I discovered Kevin reminded me of Rudy Jaramillo, whom I worked with when I was with the Rangers, and who I think is one of the greatest hitting coaches out there. Kevin was saying a lot of the same things that Rudy said to me, and it made me feel very comfortable right away.

When a guy is as knowledgeable about the game as Kevin is, when he has as much passion for it as Kevin has, when he has a work ethic that I think may be even greater than my ownwell, we found our common ground.

Kevin, you have a blank canvas. Im not happy with where my game is. Im all ears. Im just gonna listen to you, because I really want to get my game back to where I think it should be. You tell me what to do, and Ill bust my butt trying to do it.

Those are pretty near my exact words to Kevin when we got together that first time. It helped, I thinkat least in my mindthat we had a blank canvas to work on. Ive always believed that its much easier to go from bad to great than from good to great. Maybe thats crazy, but I wanted to start from scratch. And I think that Kevin liked the fact that he was able to come in and speak his mind with no hesitation. Hitting 101, thats what it was.

Beginning in our first season together, 2007, when I had the best year of my baseball career (at least so far!), we set a pattern of talking every day before, during, and often after a game. Some days a little, some days a lot. But we talked: there was never a shortage of communication between us. Weve become so good at our back-and-forth that sometimes all it takes is just a look, a phrase, or a word for Kevin to get his message across. For instance, if I take a bad swing and I glance over at Kevin standing at the edge of the dugout, he might just mouth the word foot . I cant hear one word, but I can see it, and I know what hes saying: Alex! Remember, when you pick your front foot up, put it down in the same place as you swing. Dont stride forward!

I cant tell you how many times Ive started a game with a lousy at bat, a really bad one, and Kevin will say just one little thing to me back in the dugout, and I end up with 2-for-4, a couple of homers, and 5 RBIs, and we win the game. One little thing is often all it takes, because a baseball swing is composed of a lot of little things, and if one of those is off, all you can do is go back and take a seat and hope the next guy gets a hit.

A hitting coach has to have great eyes: he must be able to recognize immediately what a guy is doing wrong at the plate. Once hes spotted something wrongand usually hes the only guy in the ballpark who hasyour hitting coach has to be able to convey it clearly, concisely, and constructively. The last bit is super important: he cant say, Alex, you really sucked on that last swing. He has to say something positive like, Alex, get your hands up just a tad next time. Youre going to nail this guy. That way, I take a positive image of what I need to do right the next time I go to the plate, not a negative image of what I did wrong the previous at bat.

Thats one area where I think Kevin and I are really tight. He has the eyes and understanding to spot a tiny flaw and communicate that finding constructively, and I have the ears and understanding to grasp what hes saying and the talent to put his advice to work. We make a good combo because we trust each other 100 percent.

Different strokes for different folks. Youve heard that a million times, so let me explain one of Kevins special talents another way. If Kevin Long worked on cars rather than batting swings for a living, hed be an equally great technician with three types of cars: Hondas, Mercedes-Benzes, and Ferraris. Not every teacherand thats what a hitting coach is, a teachercan do that. Too many, in fact, teach the same way across the board: Different folks, just one stroke.

Kevin has thirteen swings to know inside out, but hes also got thirteen different personalities to know inside out. Thats because so much of hitting is psychological that he has to be a therapist as well as a technician.