Then there was the sight of Tim Wakefield, wearing the road Boston uniform, pitching to the Yankees for the first time since . . .
Oh, never mind. This was, after all, spring training. No need to drag up any of that old stuff. It's a new year and in Boston we never talk about the past.
The Red Sox played the Yankees last night at Legends Field and lost, 8-6. It was the second and final spring training meeting of the two teams that have turned Major League Baseball into a League Of Their Own. This one had far less of the hilarious hoopla that engulfed the March 7 game at City of Palms Park, when desperate fans slept overnight on the sidewalk for standing room and eBay was asking $500 for two seats.
Legends Field was calm for most of yesterday. The Yankees are flying to Japan (via Chicago) later today for a season-opening series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Tokyo next week. Joe Torre was more worried about jet lag and pitching rotations than any imaginary renewal of Boston-New York hostilities. Save that for April 16 at Fenway when they meet in a game that counts.
Yankee publicist Rick Cerrone joked about the absence of hype for the late-March exhibition. Preparing his game notes, Cerrone -- who got into a squabble with a Red Sox parking lot attendant when the clubs met in Fort Myers -- looked up from his keyboard and said, "This time it counts! Game 9!"
While the Red Sox bus was still in traffic on Interstate 75, Derek Jeter was the first player to pop out of the Yankee dugout. It was just after 3:15 when Jeter and coach Willie Randolph came out for some infield practice. Standing on the lip of the grass, Jeter took grounders for 15 minutes. No wonder these guys win.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman took a moment to comment on the rivalry, which has escalated to new levels of intensity in the respective front offices.
