Painfully Cold

Cold hurts. It tightens your neck and lower back. It makes your joints creak and cracks everything it can reach: Hands, cheeks, lips and fingertips.

We endured a week of pain in the Bronx. Johnny Damon missed a few games and Hideki Matsui is on the 15-day disabled list to take care of a hamstring strain.

There was the usual wear and tear of playing baseball – Derek Jeter fouled a ball off his foot and Bobby Abreu was nailed by a Chris Ray fastball – and it all feels worse when the cold is biting.

Darrell Rasner developed a pair of blisters in Sunday’s series finale against Baltimore from trying to spin his curveball on a snowy afternoon.

My only responsibility during the season-opening home stand was getting myself to Yankee Stadium, filling out my scorecard and cheering. Even that took its toll. I’m stiff and sore and nursing cracked hands this morning.

I’ve never been much for indoor baseball. There is a painful childhood incident that still causes me to swing a bat with caution in the house. But this trip to the Metrodome is actually welcomed. We’ll have to deal with playing on turf and trying to pick balls out of the ball-colored roof, but at least it won’t be cold and snowy.

This six-game road trip will help the team get in the flow of the season and eight more days into April should warm the Bronx. I’m pretty sure it won’t be any colder next Tuesday when the guys come home to face Cleveland. Yeah, pretty sure.