Staying Safe a Distraction for Braves

Yankee Stadium is the last place the Atlanta Braves wanted to have to try to win a World Series. And it’s not the location, it’s the fans.

“What did they throw at us?” Ned Yost, Atlanta bullpen coach, repeated when asked about the Braves’ first two games in New York. “Well, you name it. Apples, oranges, batteries, bottles of every kind, quarters, nickels. . . . I had one of those big 20-ounce [soda] bottles just miss me. Went right past my ear. It was still full. You know that noise--whoosh! Sounded like a fastball. . . .

“[Steve] Avery, they spit on him, flicked cigarettes at him. I’ve got to tell you, those fans were rough. It’s like we had burned down their house or something.

“But I don’t get it. I mean, I thought this was supposed to be fun. I thought this was the World Series. I thought everybody was supposed to be, well, happy.”

The most frightening moment, the Braves say, was the fan jumping onto the field and getting close enough to outfielder Andruw Jones to slap him on the seat.

“I didn’t like it at all,” Jones said. “You bet I was scared. You don’t know what a guy will do out there.”

More than 500 police officers will patrol Yankee Stadium tonight.

“We’re going to have more officers inside the stadium as well as outside the stadium,” police commissioner Howard Safir said Friday.

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Yankee Stadium may be a bit of a zoo but it does have one thing going for it, as far as the Braves are concerned. The Yankees play better on the road.

In fact, they have been lethal on the road, going 8-0 in postseason play.

“Maybe we just play better when we’re staying in hotel rooms,” catcher Joe Girardi said. “Maybe guys eat better when we have room service, who knows?

“This is a strange team. We win games so many different ways. It’s hard to explain.”

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Cecil Fielder, who spent the last seven seasons with the woeful Detroit Tigers before being rescued by the Yankees three months ago, is doing everything he can to show his gratitude.

Fielder, the surprise starter at first base in all three games in Atlanta, is batting .421 this series and might be voted most valuable player if the Series ended today.

“I’m just ecstatic,” Fielder said. “In Detroit, I didn’t have the opportunity to make things happen. Now, I have the opportunity to make it count. . . .

“Being here kind of puts me at ease. Being here is easier than getting here.”