Zell's Pinstriped Blog, A New York Yankees Fan Blog

With Kevin Long already hard at work with some of the Yankees’ hitters, I decided to look as far back as 1996 until now to see how his contemporaries have fared in their jobs.

Below I have listed all the Yankees Major League hitting coaches from 1996 to present. For some reason, I thought the Yankees had more. Maybe it was the fact that there were persistent rumors about their dismissal is why I thought there were more. Either way, it’s time to delve into the past…

Chris Chambliss

Since 1996, Chambliss has been the longest tenured Yankees hitting coach clocking in at 5 long years. During his tenure, Chambliss presided over an offense that hit .284, which is the highest of all Yankees hitting coaches since ’96. Also notable is the fact that the Yankees lineup from 96-2000 typically did not have the firepower that most Yankees fans have been accustomed to over the last few years. However, Chambliss was fired because of players reliance on Minor League hitting coach Gary Denbo. Derek Jeter, Tino Martinez and Jorge Posada were known to go to Denbo during Chambliss’ tenure. Grade: B+

Gary Denbo

The Yankees with Gary Denbo in his first year of Major League experience of being a hitting coach had arguably one of the worst years offensively during their return to glory. This was further compounded when the Yankees were out hit in the 2001 World Series .263 to .183 and outscored 37 to 14 by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Joe Torre thought his players had become too reliant on video, at the behest of Denbo, during the 2001 season.  Denbo spent over a decade in the Yankees organization in various coaching and managing roles up to this point. Grade: C-

Rick Down

During Rick Down’s second tenure with the Yankees, he had respectable numbers as a hitting coach, but what he could not escape was the fact that the Yankees couldn’t execute in the 2003 World Series. The Yankees out hit the Marlins .261 to .232 and outscored the Marlins 21 to 17, yet lost the Series 3-2. Someone had to be Steinbrenner’s fall guy and unfortunately it was Down. Down ultimately joined Willie Randolph in Flushing from 2005-2007. Grade: C+

Don Mattingly

After a few changes in hitting coaches, Donnie Baseball finally accepted the position of hitting coach with the Yankees. Over his time as coach, the Yankees hit more for average and less and less for power, not that 210 home runs is a low number to have by any means. He is the only hitting coach since 1996 not to go to the World Series as the hitting coach. However, Donnie baseball presided over an offense that scored 45 runs and hit .282 in the 2004 ALCS. Mattingly became the bench coach for 2007 and followed Torre to Los Angeles in 2008. Grade: B

Kevin Long

Kevin Long after the 2010 season will be the second longest tenured hitting coach since Chambliss and could be poised to eclipse him if the Yankees continue to hit like they did in the 2009 season. While 2009 was not the Yankees best year in most statistical categories as compared to the previous years, the Yankees hit when it mattered. Even further, after Robinson Cano had a terrible 2008 season, Kevin visited him in the Dominican Republic and helped Cano retool his swing and have a stellar 2009. The same offseason he visited Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez. This offseason Long has visited Rodriguez, Swisher and soon Curtis Granderson who will likely be his main project this year. Grade: B (However, if Swisher and Granderson were to improve in 2010, I would give him a B+ or even an A-)