Eddie C's Mets Notebook: Long And Sandy Talk Hitters, New Dimensions

By Ed Coleman
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One day after unveiling the new dimensions in the outfield at Citi Field, the Mets rolled out their new hitting instructor, Kevin Long, to talk turkey a week before Thanksgiving.

The former Yankees batting coach was asked what attracted him to come crosstown to the Mets.

Every hitting coach has his own style, his own method, his own way of connecting to his charges. But at the root of things for Long , he's a dedicated video guy.

Long spent many years at Yankee Stadium, with its short right-field porch.  After bringing the fences in for a second time, Citi Field is now a lot cozier in right and right-center field, and Long will look to take advantage of that next season.

But Long is not looking for home runs, per se. Those will come by driving the ball and making contact.

Curtis Granderson was one of Long's major success stories when both were operating in the Bronx, and Long was quizzed about how he helped Grandy become an offensive force.

Granderson certainly had an up-and-down season in 2014: bad April, good May and June, bad July and August, and good September.  Long chimed in on what he noticed was different about Granderson in his one season as a Met.

The ability to hit left-handed pitching will be key for first baseman Lucas Duda.  It will keep him in the lineup rather than having someone like Michael Cuddyer fill in for him. And Long thinks he can help Duda and others for one big reason.

As for the ballpark itself, the fences at Citi Field have now been moved closer twice, and the Great Wall of Flushing has been chopped from 16 feet to 8 feet.The biggest difference is in right-center field.  In Citi Field's first three seasons (2009-11), the distance was 415 feet at its deepest point.  For the last three years it was 390 feet.  Now it will be 380 feet.  If the fences were at this location this past season, how many more home runs would have been hit at Citi Field?

General manager Sandy Alderson emphasized that the Mets are trying to create a fair ballpark for both hitters and pitchers.  He wants to make the Mets more competitive at home and increase the overall offense, thus perhaps increasing the fans' entertainment, as well.

Alderson also refuted the notion that the changes were being made specifically for David Wright, even though Wright's power alley is to right-center.  He countered that 14 of the 17 homers that the Mets would have produced would have come from lefty swingers.

The bottom line may be this: The new dimensions are eerily close to those of the Mets' previous home, Shea Stadium.  Thus they could have saved themselves two costly renovations by simply making Citi Field a newer, better Shea.  But that would have made sense, and that wouldn't be the Mets.

C U soon
Eddie C.

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