Yankees fire third base coach Meacham

Oct 14, 2008 - 9:39 PM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The New York Yankees on Tuesday fired third base coach Bobby Meacham and also announced the dismissal of special pitching instructor Rich Monteleone.

Meacham played six seasons with the Yankees as a middle infielder from 1983-88 and also served as a third base coach for current Yankees manager Joe Girardi in Florida in 2006.

"Whenever you lose a friend on your staff, it's going to be tough," Girardi said in a statement released by the Yankees. "However, as an organization, it was time to make a change. Bobby is a good baseball man, but moving forward we realize changes are going to have to be made in various areas of the club."

Monteleone had been a Yankees instructor for the past four seasons after serving as a bullpen coach from 2002-04.