Wife of Severna Park slugger had final say in choice to don pinstripes

NEW YORK - Mark Teixeira sat down with his wife on Dec. 12 to have dinner, his regular Friday "date night" with Leigh at the Vaquero Club in Westlake, Texas.

"I'd been asking her for weeks and weeks, Where do you want to go? Where do you want me to play?" the Severna Park native related. "And she said, 'I want you to be happy. I just want you to be happy.' And finally, she said, 'I want you to be a Yankee.' So that's when it was done. And once we got the contract figured out, it was a no-brainer."

"The Yankees hadn't made their decision yet, but that's when we made our decision," he said with a laugh.

"He was pushing me for an answer. I gave it," Leigh said, giggling. "I always loved New York, and I thought it would be really special for him to be a Yankee."

The free-agent first baseman officially joined the Yankees yesterday, finalizing a $180 million, eight-year deal initially agreed to Dec. 23, pending contract language and a physical. Teixeira's news conference might have been the last big event at old Yankee Stadium

- the team is set to move on Jan. 23 across 161st Street to its new $1.3 billion ballpark. Workers were wheeling whirlpools out of the visiting clubhouse yesterday in anticipation of the move.

Teixeira, who passed up offers closer to home from the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, had first been to Yankee Stadium when he was 8 or 9 years old. Don Mattingly was his favorite player, and Teixeira admitted, "I was in awe."

"I was sad to see this place go," the Mount St. Joseph graduate said wistfully. "I think everyone is going to miss Yankee Stadium."

Now 28, he already is thinking ahead to April 16, when New York hosts Cleveland in the first opening day at the new ballpark.

"You know what the coolest part is going to be?" he said. "I'm going to get a chance to be the first first baseman that the Yankees have in the new stadium. And, you know, the Bleacher Bums in right are going to do the roll call. That's going to be pretty sweet. Hopefully, we're going to be four games up in the division at the time, and are already rolling, and the fans here in New York will be pumped."

Teixeira is a notoriously slow starter, batting .254 through April and averaging three homers and 11 RBIs in the first month of the season. But on his first day in pinstripes, he said all the right things. He sounded at home, referring to Derek Jeter as "DJ" and saying the captain was "one of the greatest Yankees of all-time."

"I have yet to tap my potential," Teixeira said. "I haven't accomplished anything yet. I don't have a World Series ring on my finger."

The timing of his decision might be news to the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Orioles and Nationals, who also sought to sign Teixeira. He and agent Scott Boras met with Red Sox officials in the Dallas area on Dec. 18.

"There was no mention of the Yankees, but we felt all along that they were going to get the last call. That's what you deal with in working with Scott," Red Sox owner John Henry wrote last night in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met with Teixeira on Dec. 4 at a Washington hotel where the Los Angeles Lakers happened to be staying, noticing coach Phil Jackson in the lobby. Cashman made an initial offer at some point, then withdrew it.

"Without a doubt, this was a deviation from our plan," Cashman said. "We felt he was a rare, exceptional opportunity."

On Dec. 22, Cashman called Boras and the following day made a $160 million, eight-year proposal. Cashman thought until 11 a.m. on Dec. 23 that Boston was the favorite, then told co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner after hearing Boras' questions that the Yankees were the "lead dog." By 1:30 p.m., he had a deal.

Boras said the Red Sox had no cause to complain.

"I think Boston knows that they got good-faith proposals and they were given proposals, which means if accepted, the player would have signed the proposal," he said. "If teams reject them, they cannot in any way suggest that they were strung along."

New York has committed $423.5 million to three free-agent additions this offseason after its streak of 13 consecutive postseason appearances ended. On Dec. 18, the Yankees completed a $161 million, seven-year contract with left-hander CC Sabathia and an $82.5 million, five-year deal with right-hander A.J. Burnett.

At that time, the Yankees thought that would be the final news conference at the old ballpark, which opened in 1923.

"The old Yankee Stadium doesn't want to die," manager Joe Girardi said.

O'S SIGN PITCHER: Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara and the Baltimore Orioles have reached a preliminary agreement on a two-year contract.

The right-hander must pass a physical for the deal to be completed, Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said last night. The 33-year-old Uehara would become the first native of Japan to play for Baltimore.

Uehara has spent his entire career with the Yomiuri Giants. Uehara was 6-5 with one save and a 3.81 ERA in 26 games for the Giants last year.