Mark Teixeira reveals that he snapped out of funk by defying ‘order’ to change swing

“Everyone lays a burden on the willing horse”

It was a little more than a year ago, at about the time Teixeira, a switch hitter, had 25 home runs by the end of June, when he says someone of prominence in the Yankee organization essentially insisted that he stop trying to pull everything as a lefthanded hitter, and start using the whole field in an effort to boost his batting average.

“It wasn’t my decision,’’ he said on Sunday.

Teixeira doesn’t want to say who it was, except to say that it wasn’t hitting coach Kevin Long. Joe Girardi indicated on Sunday that it wasn’t him, saying it was a general feeling in the organization, and GM Brian Cashman said flatly that it wasn’t him.

It’s hard to imagine who else of importance would have gone to Teixeira, but the Yankee first baseman made it clear it was more than a request. And, in retrospect, he’s not happy about it.

“Hey, listen, halfway through last season I was on pace for 50 home runs and 130 RBI,’’ he said, “and I had people telling me, ‘you need to hit the ball the other way.’ I probably shouldn’t have listened to them but I try to please the people that I work for, and it didn’t work out.’’

Asked if he felt he had a choice in the matter, Teixeira was emphatic: “I was told to do something so I tried it,’’ he said.