"It does give me some satisfaction that people believe in me," Long said. "I like challenges."
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"They're all going to hit some bumps in the road, and when they do, they'll need some positive reinforcement. There's a trust built between myself and each individual player. I'm the go-to-guy. When something is a little bit off, they feel comfortable coming to me. That's been built over the past four years."
Long also received praise from his manager and Jorge Posada:
"You almost have to be like a psychologist," Girardi said. "You have to figure out how each person learns and what their trigger points are. Kevin is good at that."He's already worked with Granderson once prior to spring training and now comes the hard part. If Long can work some magic, I'm sure we'll see some early signs during the spring, but the real proof will be down the road in the regular season. Like I said a few weeks ago, I never was a fan of Long, but he's shown what he can do so now I'm pretty confident that he'll get Granderson at least back to respectability against lefties.
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"K-Long is going to find a way," Jorge Posada said. "He's not going to sleep until he makes Granderson a better hitter against lefthanded pitchers. That's just who he is - and we're lucky to have him."
