T-Long! T-Long! Terrance Long was an important piece to the success of the Oakland Athletics during the early 2000’s. With his smooth swing at the plate and highlight reel plays in the outfield, Long quickly became a fan favorite in Oakland. During home games when Terrence Long was up to bat, A’s fans would chant T-Long throughout the Coliseum, as the A’s drummers played in rhythm with the chant. Great memories from a great player for the A’s.
Terrance Long was drafted in the first round by the New York Mets in 1994. Long was traded by the Mets to the Oakland Athletics for Kenny Rogers. During his rookie season with the A’s in 2000, Long came in second in Rookie of the Year voting, after posting an Oakland rookie record with 104 runs scored, and tying the rookie record with 168 hits. Long should have won the Rookie of the Year because the winner of the award that year went to Kaz Sasaki, who already had numerous years of experience of pitching in Japan. T-Long was robbed of the award!
Speaking of robbed, when the A’s played the Red Sox on August 7th of 2002, Terrence Long robbed Manny Ramirez to take away a walk off home run. One of the many highlights during his Athletic’s career.
He was an iron man on the field, and in consecutive seasons in 2001 and 2002, he started every game along with Miguel Tejada. Long was the starting left fielder for the A’s in the ’01 playoffs against the Yankees, and he homered twice during Game 1 of the ALDS. He was really a unique player during his time with the A’s, as he also could play every outfield position exceptionally well with his range and speed to track down fly balls.
In a freak accident, Long was injured when he was struck in the face by a ball thrown by A’s second baseman Frank Menechino. After the injury, Long began to wear a guard attach to his batting helmet to protect the bottom of his face which gave him a unique look at the plate. In recent years, Long has made some public appearances when he reunited with the A’s during a ceremony to celebrate the A’s ten year anniversary of the 20-game win streak. Recently, he made another appearance when he and other former A’s players served up root beer floats this year.
T-Long! T-Long!