''The New York Yankess," the sign went on, misspelling the team's name, ''did not vote to support this event. Any comments you have regarding the World Baseball Classic should be directed to the commissioner of Major League Baseball or the Major League Baseball Players Association."
New York abstained when baseball owners approved the World Cup in August 2004 at the urging of baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
''We don't like it that well," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said when spring training began. ''If a player gets hurt, he's risking a lot. But it was Selig's idea and he wants to do it, so I suppose we're going to do it."
Later yesterday, Selig defended the Classic, saying, ''You mean guys don't get injured in spring training? Guys get hurt walking down the street. All the managers, pitching coaches [are] very sensitive. Look, you can always pick at something, but there's a broader picture, a grander picture."
Meanwhile, the Yankees lost to the Reds, 4-1, dropping to 0-3 in spring training, and unknown Edwin Encarnación got Randy Johnson's attention.
''Who is that kid?" the Big Unit said after allowing a two-run homer and an RBI double to Encarnación.
Encarnación, a 23-year-old third baseman, homered twice Friday against Minnesota.
''I knew who Juan Encarnación was -- the guy who played with Cincinnati and with Florida," Johnson said jovially. ''Maybe that's his brother or cousin or something like that. A pretty good hitter, though."
Johnson threw 48 pitches over three innings with a pair of strikeouts. He allowed three hits, two to Encarnación, who is not related to Juan.
Japan moves on In the World Baseball Classic yesterday, Japan advanced to the second round with a 14-3 win over Taiwan in Tokyo.
The Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and scored a run, and Hitoshi Tamura hit a three-run homer in the first inning. Tamura, who had 31 homers last season for the Yokohama BayStars, connected off Hsu Chu Chien.
Earlier, South Korea beat China, 10-1, to advance to the second round.
