It was just past 10 a.m. and the clubhouse still was mostly empty, but one player had his suitcase stretched open on the floor in front of his locker next to the doors. Slade Heathcott added a few items to take on a trip with the team that owns the biggest brand name in the game.
Here he was at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, a 24-year-old centerfielder starting his eighth day in the majors, standing in a room that once housed the Yankees' homegrown Core Four of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada.
"It's been surreal at times," Heathcott said.