[Yankees adviser, Ray] Negron, who has worked for the Yankees since 1973, said Gehrig’s widow once told him the room was a refuge for her husband when a degenerative nerve disease was ravaging his body. When Gehrig needed privacy, he would retreat to that room. His wife would wait by a side door, just up a ramp beside the old bullpen, and take him home.

Chris asked: When you’re dealing with a player agent or a GM, and he tells you that he’s got such-and-such an offer on the table from another team. How do you know that’s the truth? Is there a way to verify it, or do you go on the honor principle?

Brian Cashman: “If you’re dealing with an agent, I can’t verify it until after the fact. Every time I close out a negotiation with somebody with a signing or if that player eventually signs with somebody else, I will talk. What agents will typically do or say is, ‘Hey, I got the following offer from the following club.’ I write everything down and I crosscheck that information after and I keep a list of who tells the truth and who doesn’t tell the truth and here are the examples. I’ll call out the agents on it. I’ll say, ‘I found out you lied to me. I talked to Joe Blow and they said that’s not true and you said it was and I’m just letting you know I take notes to this stuff. Now I know that you’re a bulls***ter.’ Or it builds your credibility. If somebody says they got this and for five years every time I crosscheck the guy’s never been wrong, he’s always told the truth, then he goes up the credibility scale. He’ll be more believable down the line to me when we’re negotiating. General managers have different ways than other clubs when they present things. You have your scouts; we all have our connections in other organizations to tend to find out and verify whether they’re down the tracks with a particular trade. But in terms of potential players or free agents, there’s nothing you can do. You have to fly blind.”

Seeing that Scott Patterson was upset about being sent out, Hawkins headed for Patterson's locker. Hawkins knew Patterson was almost perfect in eight games (one hit, no runs in 71/3 innings) and figured he needed some encouragement.

"I told him to go to his room and have some drinks and charge it to my room, 901," Hawkins said.

Patterson didn't run up Hawkins' room service bill but appreciated the support.

"That was awesome, I probably needed that at that point," said Patterson, who will open the season at Scranton-Wilkes Barre.

The Yankees have told people they plan to carry Morgan Ensberg. So assuming a lineup with Johnny Damon in left field, Hideki Matsui as designated hitter and Jason Giambi at first base ("He's going to play a lot of first base," manager Joe Girardi said today), the bench would be Ensberg, backup catcher Jose Molina, infielder Wilson Betemit and Shelley Duncan. That makes Betemit the only reserve middle infielder.