PHOENIX — Roger Clemens and Derek Jeter met with friends for dinner here Friday night after Team USA's first workout for the World Baseball Classic. And while the evening centered around two old teammates sharing memories, it was also a small step toward developing team chemistry for a group of players cobbled together from across the major leagues.
One of the major disadvantages Team USA may have in the 16-team, World Cup-style tournament is that it is a team that has not played together. Sure, Jeter and Clemens were Yankee teammates — Clemens was wearing his 2000 World Series ring Friday, prompting Jeter to talk about how much he wanted to win another — but many players are meeting each other for the first time.
Team bonding is an issue coursing through the Classic, both for the WBC teams and the teams some players are coming from. Johnny Damon, for instance, is a new Yankee, but he disputes the idea he's missing crucial time back in spring training. Of course, he has three Yankee teammates — Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Al Leiter — on Team USA and the foursome flew to Phoenix together from Tampa on A-Rod's private charter, what Damon called "Air A-Rod."
"I love it, it's the only way to go," Damon said, laughing.
Damon believes that spending time with Jeter and Rodriguez with Team USA has given him a head start on the kind of bonding that will help when they all don pinstripes again.
"We've jelled," Damon said before the team's second workout on Saturday. "Those guys are pretty excited I'm not on the other side of the rivalry (with the Red Sox) anymore.
"I'm going to be counting on those guys coming up behind me. Hopefully, we can hit near each other in the lineup here. We're going to get our work in here. This is something different and maybe it will help, playing in games that count right out of the chute."
As for Team USA, Jeter believes "the more we play together, the more we'll feel like teammates."
He and Clemens know all about unlikely bonding, too. Jeter reiterated Saturday that he "hated Rocket" before Clemens became a Yankee in 1999.
"I'm not gonna lie," Jeter said. "He hit me all the time. He hit me in the chest one year. But once you get to know him, you know what kind of guy he is."
Near the table Jeter and Clemens shared Friday night were other players from Team USA, and Clemens said evenings like that "are the things you'll remember. It's not just the experiences on the field, but it's what you do off the field with the guys that you'll carry with you."
Jeter caught a glimpse of the ring he and Clemens won when the Yankees beat the Mets in the Subway Series and said it stirred memories. "I haven't looked at mine in awhile," Jeter said. "The rings are locked up. Seeing it makes you want to do it again."
To win a championship with Team USA, Jeter and his new teammates might have to blend quickly to match the camaraderie of teams such as the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Cuba.