Poor Andruw Jones. Last season, he arrived in Yankees camp to learn that No. 25, the number he had worn throughout his major-league career, was already the property of Mark Teixeira. So he went for No. 18.

This season, he ran into Hiroki Kuroda, who wanted No. 18 because it has some sort of significance for Japanese-born pitchers. (Daisuke Matsuzaka wears it. So did Hideki Irabu and a bunch of others).

So now, he's wearing 22, previously worn by Roger Clemens, and most recently, by Colin Curtis in 2010. He did not seem happy about the switch.

"The price was not right,'' he said. "They didn't give me a chance. But it's a Japanese thing, so why not let him do it?''

UPDATE: Kuroda said, "It is a significant number. It is the number the ace of the staff wears [in Japan]."