Cage Rat: Lessons from a Life in Baseball by the Yankees Hitting Coach - Hardcover

Long, Kevin; Waggoner, Glen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061994995 ISBN 13: 9780061994999

Publisher: Ecco Press, 2011

Synopsis

The Hitting Coach for the New York Yankees, Kevin Long trains power-hitters in the fine art of hitting a baseball well--a talent the legendary Ted Williams once called, "the most difficult skill in sport." In Cage Rat, the man who helps sharpen the mechanics of such superstars as Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Alex Rodriguez shares the expertise he honed over his more than two decades in the game as both player and coach. With an introduction by Alex Rodriguez and an Afterword by Robinson Cano, Cage Rat is an indispensable guide to hitting, filled with practical advice, fascinating behind-the-scenes action, and an enduring, inspiring love for the Great American Pastime.

About this title

About the Authors

Kevin Long was named the hitting coach of the New York Yankees in 2007. Before that, he served as the hitting coach of the Triple-A Omaha Royals and the Double-A Wichita Wranglers. He made his professional coaching debut at Single-A Wilmington in 1997 after eight seasons as a player in the minors. Long played college ball at the University of Arizona, where he earned second-team All-America honors in 1989. He resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, with his wife, Marcey, and their three children, Britney, Tracy, and Jaron.

Glen Waggoner, a founding editor of ESPN The Magazine, is the coauthor of Bobby Murcer's New York Times bestselling autobiography A Yankee for Life, as well as the bestsellers My Life In & Out of the Rough with John Daly and Clearing the Bases with Mike Schmidt. Waggoner was one of the founding fathers of Rotisserie League Baseball, which sparked the fantasy sports movement in America.

From the Back Cover

From Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long--the man who coaches all-stars like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Robinson Cano--comes this indispensable guide to hitting, full of practical advice, behind-the-scenes baseball action, and an enduring, inspiring love for America's national pastime

The legendary Ted Williams often said that "hitting a baseball is the most difficult thing to do in sport." If hitting a baseball is that hard to do, imagine trying to teach how to hit. Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long does just that every day to some of the best players in the game.

In Cage Rat, Long draws on more than twenty years of experience playing and coaching professional baseball to demonstrate to readers the techniques, practices, and habits of great hitting. From bat angle to grip, and from plate coverage to athletic stance and hitting drills, Long takes us into the Yankees' batting cage, where he shows us how major-league players hone their hitting and refine their skills.

Not just a practical guide to hitting, Cage Rat is also a dynamic, engaging, and moving portrait of a man realizing his goals. From his early days in the minor leagues to his major league dreams of playing with the Kansas City Royals, from the dramatic decision to turn to coaching to the fateful call from the New York Yankees, Kevin Long's story is a quintessentially American narrative that celebrates hard work, perseverance, and a positive attitude.

Chock-full of practical advice, behind-the-scenes action, instructional photographs, and inspirational stories, Cage Rat is a must-read for aspiring players, Yankees fans, and anyone who loves baseball.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ecco Press
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0061994995
• ISBN 13: 9780061994999
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224