KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Habits die hard, especially for the quintessential creature of habit, the ballplayer. Which is why New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, while standing in the on-deck circle on Monday, had to catch himself.
Two days after aggravating his right shoulder with a stretching routine he does before an at-bat, Posada almost made the same mistake twice. Without thinking, the catcher grabbed his bat at its ends, with both hands in front of him. Then, as he's done for years, he wanted to stretch the bat over and behind his head. Only this time, Posada caught himself before he could raise the bat above his chest.
"You get in the game, I went like this," Posada said, chuckling as he raised his arms. "Yeah, I almost did it again."
He played long toss but did not catch starter Chien-Ming Wang in the bullpen as scheduled. Still, Posada went 1-for-3 with an RBI single in the Yankees' 5-5 tie with the Houston Astros. He played as New York's designated hitter just two days after being pulled from the lineup when he irritated the shoulder, the same one that required surgery last season.
Perhaps Posada's biggest regret at the moment is not being able to catch when longtime teammate Derek Jeter steps into the box -- against the Yankees. The Bombers host Team USA at 1:15 on Tuesday. It will be the first time the Captain will oppose his longtime team.
Said Posada:"It's too bad I'm not going to be behind the plate, so I can really mess with him."
Posada joked that he told Yankees starter Phil Hughes to throw "nothing but fastballs inside" to Jeter. It was Hughes, of course, who in his first start of the spring, hit a pair of batters while trying to bust them inside with fastballs.
But, it seems, Yankees manager Joe Girardi got to Hughes first: "I already told Hughes he's not allowed to throw inside to Jeter." Girardi also issued another edict, this one to baserunners: no taking Jeter out at second.
Not that Posada will be affected by the latter warning. "I don't think I'm fast enough to get there," he said.
Nick Swisher, a candidate for the Yankees starting right field job, hit the wall in foul territory on Monday while making the long run to make a difficult catch.
"Me and the wall, we're buddies," Swisher said. "It's kind of like a football game. You're nervous until that first hit. Them, it's okay."
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