Players Visit Ground Zero

It was an emotionally draining day for Arizona first baseman Mark Grace Monday, and the Diamondbacks didn’t even play a World Series game.

In the early afternoon of the off-day between Games 2 and 3, Grace and numerous teammates and coaches visited the site of the World Trade Center collapse. In the early evening, Grace made his first-ever visit to Yankee Stadium for a workout. As thrilled as he was to tour baseball’s most tradition-rich stadium and to look at Monument Park beyond the outfield wall, Ground Zero put things in perspective.

“Professionally, I’m the most excited human being you could imagine,” Grace said. “But in the big picture of life, there’s a lot more going on than the World Series. The soldiers [in Afghanistan] who are taking care of business, those are the main guys. We’re just entertainers. What they’re doing over there is real. If I screw up, we might lose a baseball game. If they screw up, somebody dies.”

Grace said he did not go to the World Trade Center site to see the rubble and carnage. “I wanted to meet the police officers, the firefighters and the construction workers, the real role models, the real heroes, the people who make you proud,” Grace said.

“I also had another reason. How many times in your life have you been pulled over by a policeman, gotten a ticket and said, ‘That ... ‘?

“The people who meet these officers will never say that again. That’s a good feeling, knowing these guys have your back. They’re here to protect you.”

Game 3 starter Brian Anderson has some friends in the New York fire department and was given an up-close tour of the site.

“You cannot begin to grasp the scope and magnitude of the destruction until you’ve seen it,” Anderson said. “It’s amazing.”

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Yankee ace Roger Clemens, who will start Game 3 tonight, has been bothered by a strained right hamstring for several weeks and has not pitched beyond the fifth inning in any of his three playoff starts. But he said Monday that his body felt better than it did before his division series and championship series starts....

If the Diamondbacks win tonight to take a 3-0 lead in the series, Manager Bob Brenly said Miguel Batista will definitely start Game 4 of the series. If the Yankees win, Brenly will consider coming back with Game 1 starter Curt Schilling on three days’ rest for Game 4. “If we lose Game 3, we’ll take it under advisement and let you know [who will pitch Game 4] right before Game 4 starts.”

TONIGHT

DIAMONDBACKS’ BRIAN ANDERSON (4-9, 5.20 ERA) VS. YANKEES’ ROGER CLEMENS (20-3, 3.51 ERA) Yankee Stadium, 5:30 p.m. TV--Channel 11.

Radio--KSPN (1110).

Update--With the designated hitter added to the lineup in the American League city, Arizona will probably start left-handed-hitting Erubiel Durazo at DH. Paul O’Neill, who did not start in Games 1 or 2, will return to right field for the Yankees. David Justice is the likely DH.