Tuesday, April 13, 2004 | 9:41 a.m.
Bubba Crosby heard George Steinbrenner before he saw the Yankees' owner within an hour of New York's home opener Friday night.
That wasn't surprising, since Crosby has taken a mouth-closed, head-down, ears-open philosophy in his brief tenure in pinstripes. Still, that distinctive voice forced him to tilt his head upward.
Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui occupied the locker next to Crosby's in the New York clubhouse, and Steinbrenner was busy wishing Matsui well for the 2004 season.
"I listened to him talk to Matsui. He was wishing Matsui the best of luck for the season, and then he came up to me," Crosby said Monday on his cell phone from New York. "He said, 'Good luck. Good luck.' That's it. No name. I don't know, maybe he does know my name.
"But I'm the lowest guy on the totem pole, and I have to earn that respect."
In the ensuing 48 hours, Crosby, who tore up the Pacific Coast League for the Las Vegas 51s last season, did plenty to warrant some respect, perhaps even first-name recognition, from Steinbrenner.
Slipped into Friday night's game against the Chicago White Sox by Yankees manager Joe Torre as a late defensive replacement, Crosby slugged his first major league home run, a two-run shot, in his first at-bat.
He did not acknowledge an ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd of 45,965 because he believed that celebration was for catcher Jorge Pasada, who followed Crosby in the batting order.
Sunday afternoon, Crosby discovered two hours before the first pitch against the White Sox that he'd be starting for the first time as a Yankee. No teammate or Yankees official informed Crosby of the news; he found out from a Japanese reporter.
He responded as if he were one of the sage veterans whose lockers flank his in that star-studded clubhouse.
Crosby became the Sunday star by tracking down big belts by Magglio Ordonez and Frank Thomas against the center-field wall, prompting chants of "Bubb-ba! Bubb-ba!" from the raucous crowd of 37,484.
And he smacked another homer, a dramatic, three-run blast that caromed off the upper-deck facade in right field in the fourth inning, to help pitcher Mike Mussina claim his 200th career victory.
Crosby took a couple of deep breaths and a couple of pitches out of the strike zone by Chicago starter Dan Wright, then Wright threw a change-up that didn't drop.
"I couldn't have asked for a better feeling in my hands," Crosby said. "I saw the way it took off and I knew, and these fans know by the way it sounds and the way it takes off. They just went nuts from the moment the ball came off the bat.
"I remember looking at it and thinking, 'I can't believe this is happening to me.' "
It gave the Yankees a 4-3 lead in a game they won 5-4. This time, Crosby thanked the faithful by bounding back out atop the dugout steps and pumping his batting helmet to the heavens when they roared for a curtain call.
"I'm glad I was able to recognize what they were doing this time," he said. "I'd always dreamed of doing something like that, but I never thought it would have happened that fast and that soon, the whole thing.
"These fans love to see the good catches, too, and the hustle and all-out style. And I was getting my name called out even before I hit that home run. One thing about these fans, they know baseball."
Based on a recent rotation of owners and mediocre seasons, it might be a stretch to say that about the Los Angeles Dodgers, who picked Crosby out of Rice University in the first round of the 1998 amateur draft.
Former Dodgers general manager Dan Evans dealt Crosby to the Yankees for Robin Ventura late last season, and Crosby admitted that he is driven to show the Dodgers that they made a big mistake in giving up on him.
"I mean, yeah," Crosby said after a pause. "Being the competitor I feel I am, I'd love to sit there and tell (Dodgers brass), 'Look, if you guys would have given me a true opportunity ... '
"Now, I feel like the Yankees have done that so much. I feel like this is my new home and these are my new brothers. I also realize the person (Evans) who made the decision is no longer with that organization. That's part of the politics of baseball, and you can't take it personally."
Not when Yankee Stadium treats you as if your monument is next on the chiseler's list and all of the New York papers splash your name on all of the headlines. That was Crosby on Monday, an off day for the Bronx Bombers.
"YANK FANS CRY: 'HUBBA, BUBBA' " screamed the New York Post, above a more-subdued "New hero rallies club." Above the back page ran "BUBBA BASHES WHITE SOX."
The New York Times toned it down, reporting "Big Hit With Yankees Fans, Crosby Hits Homer and Wall." The New York Daily News said, "Bubba's bash rocks Stadium."
"I have a feeling you haven't seen the last of him," Torre told the Times.
Only a week into the season, and Yankees fans are already versed on Crosby's given name (Richard Stephen) and the high-octane player (Lenny Dykstra) he idolized.
Among a roster of multimillionaires that is costing Steinbrenner $184 million this season, and a franchise that Forbes recently valued at $832 million, Crosby is a bargain.
He makes the major-league minimum of $301,400, which was highlighted nationwide Sunday night on ESPN's "SportsCenter." That network also displayed a chart of Bubbas who have homered in the Majors.
A desk clerk at his Manhattan hotel recognized Crosby on Monday, but he and girlfriend Jacqueline -- "She saw my debut in L.A. and wouldn't miss my debut here," Crosby said -- were stopped only once during an all-day shopping spree.
That happened at the high-end Sparks Steakhouse on East 46th Street, outside of which mobster "Big Paul" Castellano was murdered in 1985. A couple and their two sons left the restaurant, but the patriarch of the family soon returned.
"He came back and asked if I was Bubba Crosby," Crosby said. "The two boys had recognized me, so I gave him autographs. But for the most part, no, that hasn't happened. And that's good, because I like doing what I want and going where I want."
Which could get increasingly difficult if Crosby keeps displaying the flair and flash that he did over the weekend.
Baseball fans in Las Vegas saw his skills last season, when he hit .361 in a 51s uniform. That would have easily led the PCL had he stuck around, but the Dodgers made several calls for him.
Then they let Crosby, a left-handed hitter and thrower who can play all three outfield positions, rust on the bench. In one start and eight appearances as a pinch-hitter, he went 1-for-12 with an RBI.
And then, during a road trip, he was gone, dealt to the Yankees with an order from New York general manager Brian Cashman to report to Triple-A Columbus, Ohio.
Crosby begged for a few extra hours, caught a flight to Las Vegas, drove his BMW 22 hours to his hometown of Bellaire, outside of Houston, visited with his mother for six hours and then jumped on a flight to Toledo, where Columbus was playing.
He detailed his disappointment about the Dodgers giving up on him and the long odds of landing a spot on the Yankees' roster, which turned that 22-hour drive into an emotional roller-coaster, in an extensive Sun feature in August.
"It would be awesome if I could wear the pinstripes one day," he said then.
Monday, Crosby recalled every sting of that dreadful 22-hour drive.
"But I finally thought of a positive, that someone up there (in the Yankees' front office) liked me," he said. "That was something I couldn't seem to get in the Dodgers organization."
At the Yankees' big league spring training camp in Florida, he aimed to make the best of the few at-bats he figured to be given. He also wanted to show his speed, ability to bunt and versatility in the outfield.
"I showed them that, and they've given me opportunity after opportunity after opportunity," Crosby said. "And I showed them more, by throwing a bunch of runners out. It's been incredible and a blessing."
He earned a spot on the Yankees' season-opening trip to Japan, where they split a two-game series with Tampa Bay, then beat out veterans Darren Bragg and Homer Bush for the 25th and final spot on the roster.
An emergency appendectomy that knocked Bernie Williams out of the lineup encouraged Torre to get his 27-year-old rookie outfielder into the action.
"It's been nothing short of a miracle," Crosby said. "It's unbelievable. To the left of my locker is A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez), Matsui, Jason Giambi, and to the right is Derek Jeter, Mariano (Rivera) and Kevin Brown, the list goes on and on."
For a guy who was weaned on baseball in the Astrodome, Crosby was not prepared for the history jolt of the Yankees and Yankee Stadium. It zapped him as he strolled down a corridor just before the clubhouse, on the right side.
That's where framed photographs hang of every Yankee whose number has been retired.
"I realized, 'Wow, this is the same stadium they played in, (Babe) Ruth and (Mickey) Mantle," Crosby said. "They played on this same field ... the same dugout, the same clubhouse. All of a sudden, you can just feel the history. Incredible."
As incredible as moving from Cashman Field to Yankee Stadium, and not missing a beat.
"I've just been on cloud nine for the last week and a half," Crosby said. "Then you walk down the tunnel in pinstripes and find yourself starting in center field one day. You can't help but think about all those years you struggled.
"You couldn't put together a better story."
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