Conversations with the Herd: Ryan Long

By: Brian Frank

Bisons hitting coach Ryan Long has spent his life around baseball, first as a player and now as a coach. Long grew up in Houston, Texas, where he played both with and against Andy Pettitte, who went on to star for the Yankees and Astros.

“Me and Pettitte were at rival high schools, and then we ended up playing together on a summer league team that won the Colt World Series around 1987ish, I want to say somewhere there,” Long recalled on a recent afternoon at Sahlen Field. “We were pretty tight there for a minute.”

Long and Pettitte’s paths would cross again years later – this time in the professional ranks.

“In 2010, I was (the hitting coach) with Pittsburgh in Altoona, and we were in the championship series, and Pettit made a rehab start against us in the first game of the Championship, which we thought was really odd,” Long chuckled. “But yeah, that was pretty cool. That's probably the last time I saw him was that day. (He had) one of the best pick-off moves I've probably ever seen as an amateur and then obviously as a big leaguer.”

Long is in his second season as Bisons hitting coach. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

Long graduated from J. Frank Dobie High School in Houston, where his talent on the diamond caught plenty of attention. He committed to play college ball at Louisiana State University, and thought that path was set in stone, until the Kansas City Royals came calling.

“I had signed at LSU early in my senior year, and I thought that was my route,” Long said. “Then it was kind of surprising how high I went in the draft, the second round. So, just excited, you know. (I was) young. I was 18. Obviously, I wish I knew the things I do now, going back to then, but we can't. So, I just try to pass on some of the knowledge I had from those experiences to these guys.”

By 1997, Long had worked his way up to Triple-A Omaha, and remembers playing in some early season games at Sahlen Field against a Bisons team that went on to capture the American Association Championship.

“I worked my way up through the system, he said. "Back then we had several different levels, and I played at every one of them. I played here (at Sahlen Field) in ‘97 as a member of the Omaha Royals. Mike Jirschele was my manager who came in (to Buffalo) last year with Omaha as well, which was really cool to see him again.”

“We came here for an April series, I believe, or it could have been in May - but it was really cold,” he continued. “Faced Bartolo (Colón)... He was throwing, I'd say, 97 (mph) that day, really firm. And it was just freezing. I remember they called the second game. It was like the first game of doubleheader.”

Just a couple days before being called up to the Kansas City Royals to make his major-league debut, Long had a close call off the field.

“I was crossing to go to a restaurant called Schlotzsky’s,” he remembered. “We were in Nashville. It was just a freak deal where one car stopped to let me go and another car kind of continued, and I had to throw myself out of the way, and banged up my arm a little bit, but I ended up being fine. Two days later I was called up. So, just very thankful that I was not injured really bad, but it could have been really bad.”

His first big-league hit came at the Kingdome in Seattle against a baseball legend. Long started in right field for the Royals facing future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. The Mariners lineup that day featured Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez – and an old friend of Long’s, Jay Buhner.

“Tony Muser, who was the new manager (of Kansas City) at the time, had told me – you're going to get your first start against the Big Unit in Seattle,” Long said. “I'm like, I'm excited as heck, you know, getting to face that guy, a legend. Another backstory on that team was they had a Jay Buhner, who also grew up in my area. He went to League City and Clear Creek High. I'd known his brother and I knew Jay a little bit too.”

“Then, I got in, and second at bat I believe, I got my first hit off Big Unit, which, you know at the time… but now a Hall of Famer, second (all-time) in strikeouts. Just a very memorable situation for me... and my first RBI. And I got my first two strikeouts that night. So, I’m on that list as well.”

Even during his playing days, Long had a sense that coaching was in his future.

“I think I always kind of knew it,” he said. “I kind of did lessons and things like that and helped kids when I was player. I don't think you're ever ready, at least I wasn't quite ready for it when it happened. But it was just a decision I made for me and my wife at the time. And I'm glad I did.”

Long meets with Peyton Henry and Will Robertson last season. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

Long got his start with the Chicago White Sox organization, where he coached for six seasons.

“I ended up working with some really good people with the White Sox. Learned some really good hitting stuff from the ground up. Worked at every level there too. Yeah, it was just a great experience for me.”

He then spent time in the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates systems, before heading overseas for a unique opportunity. In 2020, he was offered the chance to become the hitting coach for the Lotte Giants in South Korea.

“I was in Indianapolis at the time with Pittsburgh, and I was going back,” he said. “And this happened, in like November, around Thanksgiving. I got a call from a friend of mine, Larry Sutton, who's back with the Royals too, who I came up with. He had been there playing. Long story short, a guy he played with is now the new GM of Lotte and they wanted to bring over some foreign coaches. I was entertaining that thought. He had signed Larry first to be a director, manager type of role, and they reached out to me about being their major-league hitting coach. It was something my wife and I thought about for a few days first, and then I accepted the position. It was a great experience. So, just kind of knowing people is kind of how I got over there.”

He embraced the opportunity to experience a new culture while also managing the challenges of being in a foreign country at the height of the pandemic.

“It opened up a lot more in year two, which would have been 2022,” he said. “I think the best thing to come out of it is we did play with no fans, and Korea got a lot of exposure through ESPN or whatever channel they were on at the time. So, a lot of people back home got to watch us live. But yeah, it was a very challenging time, as you can expect. First year, bringing my family over, their first COVID test, and then just a (different) culture and laws over there, that's different than the U.S. in terms of how they handled it. They did a good job handling it, but it was just a little more strict and a little more hands on.”

The team provided translators to help Long navigate the language barrier.

“With Lotte, they were really good about translators,” he said. “I personally had a private translator all four years. I had three different ones, it was still challenging in that way, but I did have a private translator that was with me during all my teaching and coaching and on field stuff.”

Beyond the cultural differences, the baseball itself was a different kind of pressure.

“Then obviously the level, just being at the major-league level. It was my first time where it's really all about winning. So, you know, there's a different type of pressure put on you to perform, obviously. But all good. I enjoyed it. Just a great experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Looking on from the Bisons' dugout. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

In 2024, Long returned to the States to be the Bisons hitting coach. With experience coaching at every level of the game – from rookie ball to the KBO – he brings a well-rounded perspective to player development.

“I think the main difference would be just from a coaching technique, you're more walking out in front of them and kind of helping them through their process a lot more and just kind of guiding them,” he said of coaching in the lower levels of the minor leagues. “They're more moldable, a little bit like clay in that early stage. So, it's a very important place to have some of your best instructors, because that's that ground level, really setting the foundation for them. Then, as they work their way up, the expectations are that they take more ownership in their career, take more ownership in the way they work. So, it's a little bit more walking beside him, instead of walking out in front of them, if that makes sense. So, I think that'd be the main difference.”

Long focused on adaptability and versatility when he described his hitting philosophy.

“I think, first off, just movements and mechanics, everybody's different,” he explained. “You’ve got to understand how everybody moves. That's one of the mistakes that I know I've made in the past, is trying to get everybody to maybe, you know, kind of move the same way. But just understanding that we don't all move that way. We're all built differently. So, I think that's the first thing. Then, personally, we're just trying to, organizationally, we're trying to get our best swings off early in the count. We want guys to be able to compete with two strikes, hopefully pass the baton in that way. Then we want hitters that are versatile and adaptable to any situation. So those are kind of the mold we're looking for. Obviously, everybody doesn't fit that. There's an individual component to that as well, but those are kind of like our basics right there that we're looking for an identity.”