NEW YORK -- Carl Pavano's bizarre transformation from oft-injured and even more often maligned free-agent signee to the Yankees' Opening Day starter Monday has been reported to death by now. The gory details, twists and turns are well documented.
One remaining curiosity is how a sellout Yankee Stadium crowd will react to Pavano as he pitches his first game since the middle of the 2005 season.
Manager Joe Torre figures the Bronx faithful will give the right-hander a positive beginning to the 2007 season.
"I think the fans are going to be very supportive of him," Torre said. "Knowing the personality of the fans, they give everybody a helping hand. Then if you don't do the job, they let you know about it, which is certainly fair."
Whether Pavano can do the job is the real curiosity. Pavano admits there's not much he can do about how the fans greet him when he first steps out. Pavano also knows what he does over six or seven innings Monday will determine how fans say good-bye to him as he walks off.
"I don't know what kind of response I'm going to get when I'm entering the game, walking out to the mound, but obviously, when I'm done pitching, that's the only thing I have control over," said Pavano. "When I'm coming off the mound I'm hoping to have put together the performance I expect from myself."
Pavano, if he wants, can also get plenty of advice about pitching on Opening Day. Pitching coach Ron Guidry is expected to offer a few words on Monday, and Pavano could also seek out Mike Mussina.
He certainly won't have to travel far for one source. Pavano's locker was moved to the other side of the clubhouse for 2007, placing him right next to Andy Pettitte, who returns to the Yankees after three years in Houston and is someone whom Pavano built a rapport with during Spring Training.
"I just told him to go out and savor the moment," said Pettitte, who experienced back tightness earlier in the week but threw without issue early Sunday before a team workout at Yankee Stadium.
New digs: Speaking of changing lockers, closer Mariano Rivera started his 2007 campaign getting to know his new personal space -- the corner locker previously used by outfielder Bernie Williams, whose 16-year career in pinstripes came to a close this offseason when the Yankees chose not to bring him back.
"I don't know; what can I say?" Rivera said of his new cavernous locker. "The only thing I can say is that good things come from this corner. It's a lot of pressure; you have to do the job now."
Previous tenants of that corner locker include Sparky Lyle, Dave Righetti and Don Mattingly.
Williams didn't leave anything behind and Rivera said it will take him some time to figure out how he will personalize his new space.
"I've got to do a lot of things, a lot of shuffling," Rivera said.
Some concerns: Asked for his impressions of the team heading into the season opener, Torre appeared confident about nearly everything, but he expressed some anxiety about his starting rotation -- especially with right-handers Chien-Ming Wang (hamstring) and Jeff Karstens (elbow stiffness) ailing. Wang will start the season on the disabled list and probably miss about three weeks. Karstens' situation is less clear.
"When you leave Chien-Ming Wang and Jeff Karstens -- who both figured to be a part of this staff -- in Florida, it's not a comfortable thing," Torre said.
Right-hander Darrell Rasner will take over as the fifth starter in Karsten's absence -- behind Pavano, Mussina, Pettitte and left-hander Kei Igawa -- and will probably pitch next Sunday against the Orioles.
Torre didn't seem worried at all about Igawa, the Yankees' latest Japanese import. Torre said Igawa improved with each Spring Training start and made the correct adjustment, from throwing to impress the coaching staff to throwing what he needed to work on.
"There was one start where he was throwing a lot of strikes, but he was having trouble locating the changeup," Torre recalled. "So he threw probably more changeups than he'll ever throw in a game. That confidence made me feel good."
Batter up: The Yankees' Opening Day lineup will be as follows: Johnny Damon (center field), Derek Jeter (shortstop), Bobby Abreu (right field), Alex Rodriguez (third base), Jason Giambi (designated hitter), Hideki Matsui (left field), Jorge Posada (catcher), Robinson Cano (second base) and Josh Phelps (first base).
Phelps is getting the start with Tampa Bay starting left-hander Scott Kazmir on Monday, and he will probably continue platooning with Doug Mientkiewicz at first base in the early going.
Phelps, however, could get himself more at-bats should Mientkiewicz get cold at the plate. The 28-year-old Rule 5 Draft pickup is a career .293 hitter against lefties, as opposed to .257 against righties, but Phelps also has a respectable 36 home runs and 145 RBIs in 803 career at-bats against right-handers.
