New Dad Olerud Tends to Business

BOSTON — As far as rainstorms go, Noah had less warning than the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees did.

And still, a father pulled his son through the crowds leaving Fenway Park on Friday, a few strides ahead of Yankee first baseman John Olerud, consoling the saddened boy, telling him that there would surely be other games.

The rain came as predicted, and one of the great benefits might have been to Olerud, whose previous 48 hours included a two-run homer that eventually beat the Red Sox on Wednesday night in Game 2, then the birth of his third child, a daughter, early Thursday.

Fairly sedate in the most stimulating situations, Olerud had been with his wife, Kelly, for the Cesarean section delivery, spent the night at the hospital, then followed his teammates to Boston, missing Thursday’s workout. By Friday afternoon, he was in the Yankee lineup, batting eighth, ready but admittedly weary.

“It’s tough to leave,” Olerud said.

Jessica is the Oleruds’ third child, one, he said, “we’ve been praying for a lot.”

And then the playoffs continued, or they tried anyway, pulling Olerud away.

“You don’t have a whole lot of time to think about it as you go from one thing to the next,” he said. “It’s how it goes in the baseball season, with one game after another.”

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Yankee reliever Tanyon Sturtze grew up a Red Sox fan in Worcester, Mass., a 45-minute drive from Fenway Park.

His father, Ken, took Tanyon to 10 consecutive opening-day Red Sox games, a family tradition that turned Tanyon into a backyard Jim Rice, trying to hit Wiffle balls onto the roof of their suburban home.

He recently gave his father a Yankee cap and Tanyon wondered whether it would replace an old Boston cap. “We’ll see if he wears it tonight,” Sturtze said. “If he does, it’ll be a big step.”

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In his first season in the Bronx, Gary Sheffield had 36 home runs and 121 runs batted in, becoming a favorite and MVP candidate.

Another who thrived at the plate and in the Yankee outfield said Sheffield had a demeanor built for such demands.

“He’s somewhere between super cool and gangsta,” Reggie Jackson said while standing in the Yankee clubhouse. “That’s with an ‘a’. He has the right approach.”

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Hideki Matsui, after getting 16 home runs in his first season in New York following a grand career in Japan, hit 31 this season.

“There’s not many people who can say they’ve conquered two countries,” Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman said. “He was the king of Japan and is the king of New York. Well, among the kings of New York.”

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Breaking with tradition and bowing to the needs of the media, Major League Baseball asked both clubs to open their clubhouses because a steady drizzle canceled batting practice. Kevin Brown, clearly agitated by the swarms, snapped his displeasure at two Yankee officials, grabbed his uniform and left the room in a huff.... Written on the last door the Red Sox would pass through before entering the field: “We can change history! Believe it!”