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NEW YORK - The last time Chris Gomez was in the postseason, he was starting at shortstop for the Padres in the 1998 World Series against the Yankees.
Being back in the playoffs as a utility infielder for the Twins is not quite the same, but, the former Devil Ray said, it beats the alternatives.
"It's a different role than last time I was here, but it's still exciting," Gomez said. "You still feel like you contribute; you try to be ready for whatever they need."
When the Rays let Gomez go after he hit .265 with 10 homers and 46 RBIs during the 2002 season, he wasn't sure where he was going to end up. No starting shortstop jobs were available, and the best he could do was a minor-league contract with the Twins.
He won a job in spring training and ended up playing in 58 games, starting at second, shortstop and third, and hitting .251. It was enough to earn Gomez, 32, a spot on the playoff roster and a chance to get back to the Series.
"It's worked out, I'd say," he said.
WORDS OF ADVICE: Jason Giambi had become a focal point of the criticism after Tuesday's loss, and Yankees manager Joe Torre reminded him before Thursday's game to be himself.
"I sense that he feels a great deal of responsibility for what happens on a day-to-day basis," Torre said. "And I just try to simplify it and (told him to) just get up and get comfortable. That's really my message to him, just get comfortable, and usually your reflexes and the way you respond will take over. But just don't try to be too much because, you know, it's really tough. In this game it's tough to be, say, the 7-foot guy that's going to dunk the ball all the time. He has to be one of the players and I just sense that he was trying to take on too much responsibility."
MISCELLANY: Tampa-based retired U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks, escorted by Reggie Jackson, threw out the first pitch to Yogi Berra. ... The teams will workout in Minneapolis today and resume play Saturday. ... Torre moved Derek Jeter to second in the order and dropped Nick Johnson to eighth. ... Jeter's first-inning single extended his major-league-record postseason hits to 104 in 84 games.
BRAVES-CUBS: Mark Prior was more worried about Little League hitters when Greg Maddux won his first Cy Young Award in 1992 with the Cubs.
"I don't remember a whole lot at 12. Obviously I know what he's done with the Braves, and I hear about what he did with the Cubs," Prior said.
Maddux bolted Chicago as a free agent and won three more Cy Youngs with the Braves.
Now, it's the 23-year-old Prior who has developed into the Cubs' hope for both the present and the future, an 18-game winner in just his first full major-league season.
A Prior-Maddux matchup gives even more flavor to tonight's Game 3 of the NL playoff series between Atlanta and the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
"Watching (Maddux) work is pretty awesome because he doesn't have an overpowering fastball, but he knows how to change speeds, knows how to make guys ... do what he wants them to do," Prior said.
Told that Cubs manager Dusty Baker had referred to the matchup as a young lion against a veteran one, Maddux chuckled and said: "It's better than being just old, I guess."
Braves second baseman Marcus Giles (bruised thigh) took ground balls and said he expects to play.