Newsday.com: Long Island News, Sports, Entertainment
Yankees fire strength coach
BY KAT O'BRIEN
kat.obrien@newsday.com
May 2, 2007, 11:06 PM EDT
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Yankees' rash of injuries, particularly the four involving hamstrings, resulted in general manager Brian Cashman firing Marty Miller, the team's first-year director of performance enhancement, Wednesday.
The final straw was when rookie righthander Phil Hughes pulled his left hamstring Tuesday night while working on a no-hitter in his second major-league start. Although Cashman could not say with certainty that the injuries were a result of Miller's training program, the preponderance of evidence made it difficult to remain with Miller. If nothing else, it had significantly lessened support from players.
"At the end of the day, we've had so many hamstring injuries," Cashman said, "and that's something you can't deny."
Dana Cavalea, who worked under Miller this season and worked for the Yankees each spring since 2003, will serve as interim director of performance enhancement. Cashman said he had not decided if he will hire someone from outside.
Righthander Chien-Ming Wang was the first to strain a hamstring (his right) in late March. Outfielder Hideki Matsui strained his left hamstring the first week of the season. Righthander Mike Mussina strained his left hamstring the second week of the season.
Cashman said the firing was a difficult decision, as so many variables go into players' game preparation. Also, not all players follow the same program. Mussina did not strictly adhere to Miller's program, sticking with what worked for him in the past. Hughes spent most of his time in the minor leagues not working with Miller.
Yet Cashman thought the injuries had mounted to the point where players were beginning to wonder if Miller was the common link. So Cashman called team president Randy Levine Wednesday morning, then spoke to George Steinbrenner before announcing the firing.
"It got to the point that the perception is that there's a problem," Cashman said.
Miller had little baseball experience before Cashman hired him to replace strength and conditioning coach Jeff Mangold this winter. Miller had worked at the National Academy of Sports Medicine and as director of fitness at Ballen Isles Country Club in Palm Beach, Fla.
Miller declined to comment to reporters about the firing, but told Newsday: "I'll be back in Florida by the end of the week."
Cashman hired Miller for his wealth of knowledge, and even Wednesday Cashman praised him for it. However, the imparting of that knowledge was not as easy or as accepted. Miller de-emphasized running and the use of rubber bands for stretching and flexibility, while emphasizing balance and the use of foam rollers. Until players requested them, there were no squat machines, or machines for leg extensions and leg curls.
"I don't think anybody's going to know for sure if there is a connection," manager Joe Torre said.
Outfielder Johnny Damon, who has had back and calf problems, said: "We never want to have injuries here. Unfortunately for our team and for Marty, it happened right after he started."
Matsui said he was a fan of Miller's program. Asked if he thought it had had anything to do with his hamstring injury, Matsui said through an interpreter: "Absolutely not."
Added Matsui: "Personally, I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. I don't think the players find any correlation between the string of injuries and the strength and conditioning program. Personally, I liked everything about it. It resembles pretty much everything that I do on my own."
But behind the scenes, many players told Cashman they did not think the program was helping them. The Yankees may never know for sure if the injuries were caused in part by Miller's program. Cashman did not think he could wait for someone else to get hurt, though.
"Do you ignore it, do you deny it, or do you deal with it?" Cashman said.
Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.
Yankees fire strength coach
Moderator: Available
Yankees fire strength coach
Bill, Think there's a connection?
I was dreaming of the past...
- Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Absolutely, Mike. I was going to write a thread on this, but didn't. You obviously picked it up.
The reporter didn't quite get to the bottom of this story. However you will find my e-mail exchange with a colleague at work rather revealing. I called the whole thing a day before Phil Hughes pulled his hammy.
The reporter didn't quite get to the bottom of this story. However you will find my e-mail exchange with a colleague at work rather revealing. I called the whole thing a day before Phil Hughes pulled his hammy.
From: William Glasheen
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 11:26 AM
To: *******
Subject: RE: ********
> I was in NYC over the weekend and it’s amazing how many
> Yankees fans (including my wife and her dad) are grumpy
> over their pitching staff.
The Yankees got what they asked for. They paid for talent past its prime, and expected said talent to continue to produce in older years. It doesn’t work that way. Death and taxes tend to be pretty important events to consider in life. Now throw a whole bunch of over-the-hill guys into an unusually cold spring with terrible conditioning, and you get what you get. They are a team full of pulled hamstrings, aching backs, and sore arms.
Still… This is also a sign that their conditioning program stinks. There’s a lot written about hamstring pulls, and a rule of thumb about when that will happen (quad to hamstring strength exceeding 3/2 ratio).
> They got a little bit grumpier when Julio Lugo took their
> starting pitcher out of the game in the first at-bat!
They got lucky. Kei Igawa had been written off, and was sitting on the bench. They pulled him off the bench to pitch after 2 batters. The kid had little time to panic over pitching in a Yankees/Red Sox game, and ended up giving a stellar effort. It was their only win over their archrivals in the last six games.
That in itself should tell you something else. When you see talents such as A-Rod doing poorly under pressure (they call him Mr. April), then it shows you that they need a sports psychologist in the coaching staff.
All in all, the Yankees got what they deserved. No entitlements here. The best teams are winning. And it drives the New York sports writers nuts!
Bill
From: William Glasheen
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 12:13 AM
To: *********
Subject: Told you so!
Well it appears my words (below) were spot on.
1) Tuesday evening, NY rookie phenom Phil Hughes pulls a hammy 6 innings into a no-hitter (NY at Texas). Yet ANOTHER pitching injury, and more specifically ANOTHER hamstring pull. Now we’re beginning to see a pattern.
2) Yanks on Wednesday fire their strength coach. See Yankees fire conditioning coach.
Maybe I missed my calling. What do you thing Steinbrenner would pay me for the job?
Bill
Different sports may need a different kind of workout, and age coupled with wear and tear would also factor into how someone should train. So if it was his training methods I wonder what Miller was doing wrong. Then it could just be he is the best scape goat for a bunch of guys past their wonder years.
Now I know that you're training some guys who are a little past their twenties, as am I.
What changes in your training methods for them have you made?
Now I know that you're training some guys who are a little past their twenties, as am I.

I was dreaming of the past...
- Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
I know, I know, Mary... All in good fun.
Everyone comes in at a different baseline, and with different goals. Right now I have a crop of aged brown belts who have problems with the toe touching and knee lifting thing. So I'm doing extra flexibility training with them. With the age, I also keep a very close eye on their breathing and other signs that maybe I'm overtaxing them. One student in particular got the "blue lips" thing frequently, and I made her get a thorough checkup with her doctor. After a clean bill of health, I got her doing interval training on the eliptical machines. She improved dramatically, and is totally psyched that we improved her overall fitness.
With the older folks, I am also very, very careful about hurting their lower backs while working on the flexibility training. I make everyone report injuries to me. Whenever I make big changes, one or a couple of the fellows with bigger bellies start "throwing their backs out." (Without any neural deficits, this is basically lower back muscle spasms.) Getting flexibility out of older folks half way into rigor mortis is a challenge. I push them in the stretching, but only after having gotten them really warmed up. I make sure they understand how to hold their lumbar region in stretches. We do lots of partners stretches which avoid the back strain issues. (Either have back flat on floor, against wall, or being pulled.)
All the older folk want to do the machines in the gym. That's fine if you only want to burn calories and look good. But I try eventually to get them all doing freeweight exercises - with strict form. Sometimes they can do more with less by using dumbbells rather than barbells. There's more work on joint stabilizer muscles which gives them the injury protections they need. They also get a lot of coordination work in that way.
I also remind everyone that BALANCE of strength is so important. Flexors must be worked with extensors. Lower and upper body must match. And the core must be strong all the way around the trunk.
- Bill

The biggest change is more rest needed. I also avoid the high impact stuff.Mike K wrote:
Now I know that you're training some guys who are a little past their twenties, as am I. What changes in your training methods for them have you made?
Everyone comes in at a different baseline, and with different goals. Right now I have a crop of aged brown belts who have problems with the toe touching and knee lifting thing. So I'm doing extra flexibility training with them. With the age, I also keep a very close eye on their breathing and other signs that maybe I'm overtaxing them. One student in particular got the "blue lips" thing frequently, and I made her get a thorough checkup with her doctor. After a clean bill of health, I got her doing interval training on the eliptical machines. She improved dramatically, and is totally psyched that we improved her overall fitness.
With the older folks, I am also very, very careful about hurting their lower backs while working on the flexibility training. I make everyone report injuries to me. Whenever I make big changes, one or a couple of the fellows with bigger bellies start "throwing their backs out." (Without any neural deficits, this is basically lower back muscle spasms.) Getting flexibility out of older folks half way into rigor mortis is a challenge. I push them in the stretching, but only after having gotten them really warmed up. I make sure they understand how to hold their lumbar region in stretches. We do lots of partners stretches which avoid the back strain issues. (Either have back flat on floor, against wall, or being pulled.)
All the older folk want to do the machines in the gym. That's fine if you only want to burn calories and look good. But I try eventually to get them all doing freeweight exercises - with strict form. Sometimes they can do more with less by using dumbbells rather than barbells. There's more work on joint stabilizer muscles which gives them the injury protections they need. They also get a lot of coordination work in that way.
I also remind everyone that BALANCE of strength is so important. Flexors must be worked with extensors. Lower and upper body must match. And the core must be strong all the way around the trunk.
- Bill
- f.Channell
- Posts: 3541
- Joined: Thu Oct 21, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Valhalla
Every man has his price.........
First Damon, now Glasheen.
F.
First Damon, now Glasheen.

F.
Sans Peur Ne Obliviscaris
www.hinghamkarate.com
www.hinghamkarate.com