BOSTON — Jeff Pentland’s initial reaction to the February news his wife, Liz, would need to undergo a mastectomy was to either take a leave of absence or resign as the Yankees’ hitting coach.
Pentland was less than a month into being the hitting coach, his wife was in New York hearing from surgeons that while she didn’t have cancer, she had tested positive for the cancer gene and would need a breast removed. He was in Tampa for spring training attempting to get to know strange hitters.
“She didn’t want me to do that,’’ Pentland said of Liz reacting to her 68-year-old husband’s ideas so she wouldn’t have to battle the problem alone.