[10] Long was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 31st round of the 1989 Major League Baseball Draft.

[11] That year, he led the Class-A Eugene Emeralds in games played, at-bats, runs scored, hits, doubles, and RBI’s.

[10] At the end of spring training in 1997, Long, who was assigned to the Triple-A Omaha Royals, decided to retire, asking instead for a coaching job.

It was there that he and manager Keith Bodie developed Long's popular net drill, an exercise used to help players shorten their swing.

[16] When he didn't get an opportunity in 2004 to interview for the job of hitting coach for the big league team, he moved to the New York Yankees organization.

[19] Long remained on the coaching staff after the Yankees hired Joe Girardi as manager for the 2008 season.

[27] On October 13, 2021, Long left the Nationals to become the hitting coach of the Philadelphia Phillies, reuniting him with former Yankees manager Joe Girardi.

[29][30] When Long was still a player (though he does not remember which year), he suffered an accident during an offseason job with a drywall company, when a 25-pound sledgehammer hit him in the left eye, shattering three bones.

[31] Long resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with wife, Marcey, daughter, Britney, and sons Tracy and Jaron.