The studded Yankees cap hanging in Patriots tight end Chris Baker’s locker isn’t going anywhere. He estimates he has about 60 of them at home, and some things he can’t give up, even if he is in the land of the Red Sox.
Baker lists his hometown as St. Albans, N.Y., in Queens. After a career at Michigan State, the Jets brought him home as a third-round pick in 2002. After seven seasons in New York, Baker signed as a free agent with the Patriots in March.
The trek north shifted Baker to the other side of a rivalry that began at the Polo Grounds in 1960, and 99 regular-season and playoff games have made for a divisional battle spiced by trash talking.
So the day Baker walked in the Patriots’ locker room for the first time and pulled on a New England jersey, it took a mo ment to register.
“It was extremely different having been such bitter rivals with most of these guys I now play with,’’ Baker said. “That was different for me, but they welcomed me in, so it made it an easier transition for me.’’
Former Patriots linebacker Larry Izzo can relate. Izzo played eight seasons in New England, where he was the special teams captain each year. In March, he signed with the Jets, joining his third AFC East team.
“The first day, it’s a little different,’’ said Izzo, who began his career with the Dolphins. “Any time you change teams there will be an adjustment and things like that, but you get used to it pretty quick.’’
With Baker and Izzo trading locker rooms, you may assume they are spilling the details about their former team, but Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the impact of that is overrated.
“Certainly, you could pick up - from somebody who’s been in the system for a long time - something that would be helpful,’’ Belichick said. “Probably some of that formation, especially with teams like this that are in the same division, that have played each other for quite awhile, that know each other quite well, I don’t know how much new information there is really coming out of there in something like that.’’
Jets coach Rex Ryan said he is not opposed to asking questions, but not sure what can be gained.
“You know, you’re certainly going to pick their brain and all that kind of stuff, but again, everybody has the tapes, so you’ve always got to do your work and you’re going to study your opponent and all that kind of stuff,’’ Ryan said.
The concept may be a moot point this season. The last coach Baker played for with the Jets was former Patriots assistant Eric Mangini, who joined the Jets in 2006 but was fired after last season.
