People to Blame for the Yankees Missing the Playoffs - Part 3: Kevin Long

This is Part 3 in my series of People to Blame for the Yankees Missing the Playoffs.  In Part 1, I explained why Manager Joe Girardi was most at fault.  In Part 2, I heaped some blame on General Manager Brian Cashman.  Third on the list is Hitting Coach Kevin Long.

3. Kevin Long

When your job is to help your team hit and your team scores 179 fewer runs than it did the year before, you're not doing your job.

Generally, I wouldn't blame the hitting coach for the lack of performance by professional hitters, but when the drop off is seen throughout the roster, the man in charge of the offense has to bear some of the responsibility.

Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada all experienced between a 12 and 70 point drop in their batting averages from 2007 to 2008.  Maybe veterans like A-Rod, Jeter and Posada should figure out what they're doing wrong on their own, but younger players like Cabrera and Cano need the help of a hitting coach, and Long couldn't provide that assistance.

Time and time again this season, the Yankees failed to move runners over or score them from third with less than two outs.  New York had just 39 sacrifice flies, which was third worst in the American League. 

In Part 1, I blamed Girardi for not having his guys lay down enough sac bunts, but that's not completely his fault.  Often times he would put the play on but his batters couldn't accomplish the easiest of tasks.  Bunting is something the hitting coach needs to work on with his batters in spring training.

And the Yanks were dreadful in the clutch, hitting just .272 with runners on (10th in the AL), .261 with runners in scoring position (also 10th), and .296 with the bases loaded (9th).

When the offense fails this miserably, someone has to pay the consequences, and if it's not going to be Girardi or Cashman, it has to be Long.

Jordan Schwartz is Bleacher Report's New York Yankees Community Leader. His book "Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man"is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and authorhouse.com. Jordan can be reached at [e-mail]