FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Jason Giambi provided most of the juice
when the Red Sox played the Yankees on Monday night in the first
reunion of the rivals since Boston's epic triumph last fall.
New York's designated hitter, the symbol of baseball's steroids
problem, arrived at the second annual hugely overhyped exhibition
game, gave a mass interview, got a hug from Kevin Millar, took
batting practice and signed autographs for 25 minutes.
Then, as two men behind the plate screamed "Steroids! Steroids!
Steroids!" in the fifth inning, he sent a pitch from left-hander
John Halama over the fence in right-center field for his first home
run of the spring. Giambi went 2-for-5 in New York's 9-2 win,
leaving him with a .250 average (3-for-12) with two RBI.
"For the critics, it's always nice," Giambi said. "A lot of
the hard work paid off tonight."
Patrons in the crowd of 7,723 at City of Palms Park were polite
during batting practice, then booed when he was introduced and
again before he singled sharply to right field in the first inning.
"Come on, Juicy!" one loud fan yelled.
"Let's go BALCO!" chanted a group of four, referring to the
laboratory in the federal investigation of steroid distribution.
Giambi popped out in the third, took a called third strike in
the seventh and grounded out in the ninth.
In the stands, someone held a sign that read: "Jason Do You
Have Milk." The word "Milk" was crossed out and followed by
"Juice?"
"People ought to give Giambi a chance. He's a great dude,
man," Boston's David Ortiz said. "Everybody knows that he's not
using anything, and he still hit the ball like that."
During Giambi's first three games of spring training, he was
received warmly. But two of those were at Tampa's Legends Field,
where the Yankees are based, and one at Lakeland, where New York
fans were as numerous as Detroit supporters.
Giambi, one of only a handful of Yankees regulars who made the
two-hour bus ride for the split-squad game, was prepared to face
the Red Sox Nation. Giambi said he tuned out the taunts.
"He had a couple people yelling BALCO stuff, which you're going
to find in a lot of places," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
Last spring, there was a big buzz for New York's game in Fort
Myers. Aaron Boone's 11th-inning homer off Tim Wakefield had beaten
Boston in Game 7, and the Yankees acquired Alex Rodriguez, the AL
MVP, from Texas after the Red Sox failed.
Boston upset the usual order last October, becoming the first
major league team to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a postseason series.
The Red Sox beat New York for the pennant, then swept St. Louis for
their first World Series title since 1918. Since winning Game 3,
including spring training, the Yankees had been 0-8-1.
With A-Rod, Derek Jeter and New York's entire regular pitching
staff back in Tampa, the hoopla was down a notch in this game. The
uniform numbers of the starting pitchers totaled 156, with Abe
Alvarez (79) starting for Boston against Chien-Ming Wang (76).
Neither figures to be at Yankee Stadium when these teams play the
major league season opener on April 3 or at Fenway Park when the
World Series flag is raised eight days later.
Along with the $5.67 commemorative pin and Yankees-Red Sox
tic-tac-toe game and chess set, there was plenty of merchandise
marked "World Series champions."
The changed attitude of the perennial underdog was noticeable
even at the entrance to the Boston clubhouse, where a photo of the
Red Sox at the White House with the former Texas Rangers owner,
President Bush, hangs on the bulletin board.
Following a winter of adoration, Red Sox players still are their
noisy boisterous selves, perhaps even more so with the addition of
former Yankee David Wells.
"Now New Yorkers can't chant '1918!' anymore," Wells said.
For more than eight decades, the Yankees piled it on, winning 26
World Series titles to Boston's zero. Now Red Sox fans are puffing
out their chests with pride.
A sampling of the T-shirts on fans:
"From Cursed to First."
"Hey Yankees ... Who's Your Daddy now?"
Millar looked ahead to the home opener, a celebration of the
mighty moment last October.
"The rings will probably be the best, the ultimate," he said.
Millar also voiced support for Giambi, who appeared to enjoy his
time signing autographs for and speaking with fans near the Yankees
dugout on the first-base side. A young girl gave Giambi a white
bear, and he gave her his batting gloves.
He signed the cover of Red Sox Magazine, with Tim Wakefield,
Mike Timlin and the World Series trophy on the cover.
"That's a Red Sox hat, Jason," one fan said.
"That's all right," Giambi replied before signing it.
Someone threw him a dollar bill, and he autographed that, too.
"He treats people and respects people more than any other
superstar I've been around," Millar said.
These teams know each other well following 52 games that
mattered the last two years. More drama will ensue this spring and
summer. A natural progression has developed: two silly overblown
exhibitions, 19 brutally fought regular-season games that include a
fight or two, and a seven-game ALCS.
"Every time you play against the Red Sox, something
unbelievable is going to happen," Giambi said. "It gets pretty
intense."