Yankees drop Giambi to seventh in lineup

NEW YORK -- Yankees manager Joe Torre juggled his lineup for Game 7 of the AL championship series Thursday night against the Boston Red Sox, dropping slugger Jason Giambi to the seventh spot.

Giambi had 41 homers and 107 RBIs this season, but was hitting only .216 in the playoffs with one home run and three RBIs. The 2000 AL MVP had not batted seventh since July 15, 1999, for Oakland against San Francisco. He homered in that game.

"Just something a little bit different," manager Joe Torre said. "Jason has been struggling. He just feels a great deal of responsibility. We don't talk about this on a regular basis; I just sense that he's taken on more than any one person needs to take on and I just thought I'd drop him in the lineup and probably find him with the bases loaded twice. But that's the way it goes."

Torre also put Enrique Wilson back in the lineup at third base in place of Aaron Boone. Wilson, who batted eighth, is 10-for-20 lifetime in the regular season against Boston ace Pedro Martinez, including 7-for-8 this year.

Spreading the wealth

Red Sox owner John Henry used to be the controlling owner of the Florida Marlins, who advanced to the World Series on Wednesday night.

Henry sold the Marlins at the same time he took control of the Red Sox before the 2002 season. He had long held a 1 percent share of the Yankees but sold that after agreeing to buy the Red Sox.

Henry said his mood in seeing the Marlins beat the Chicago Cubs in Game 7 of the NL championship series was "euphoria."

"They need a ballpark," he said. "They can't afford it there. They'll have a tremendous financial loss this year. Next year will be bigger."

Traffic trouble

A massive water main break just a few miles from Yankee Stadium brought traffic to a halt all over New York and made getting to the ballpark extremely difficult for many fans -- and players.

Jason Giambi was one of several Yankees who arrived later than usual. Some were escorted by police the last leg of the trip.

"I got here fine, because I know the back ways," Yankees coach Lee Mazzilli said. "There's a little New York in me, I bobbed and weaved through the Bronx."

Red Sox spokesman Kevin Shea said the team buses had no problem getting to the park.

stave off elimination for the fifth time this postseason.

"We didn't shave our heads for nothing," Millar said. "I told the guys we're too ugly to go home yet."

Cotton boll

The last time the Red Sox and Yankees played a game this big, the one-game playoff for the AL East title at Fenway Park in 1978, current Boston manager Grady Little was a cotton farmer in Texas.

"At that time of year in 1978, I was probably out making sure that my cotton was being picked, getting to the gin and getting to market more than I was concerned with the results of a baseball game," he said.

Little, who was 28 at the time, was a cotton farmer for four years. He said he made money in three of them and lost money once.

Asked how the pressure of worrying about his crops compared to Thursday's game, he said, "When you're sitting out on your porch and you see the storm and you have to bring your crop in, that's pressure. This is fun."