Yankees narrowly miss upgrading offense at first base

CLEVELAND (AP) - The Yankees' 13th straight trip to the postseason started with a stumble.
First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz got tangled up with a cameraman and injured his left ankle in an accident, but was in the starting lineup Thursday night for the Yankees' playoff opener against theIndians.
Mientkiewicz was walking up a ramp at Jacobs Field when a YES cameraman was recording while backpedaling.
"My left foot was up, and he fell kind of right on the back of my heel. My ankle rolled," Mientkiewicz said. "It's going to deter (me) from stealing like 15 bases.
"I rolled it pretty good, but it's all right."
Yankees manager Joe Torre had Mientkiewicz work out on the ankle a few hours before game time.
"We tested him every which way, up and down," Torre said. "He ran in the outfield and he looked fine during batting practice. It's not going to hurt his speed, we know that."
Mientkiewicz had to have a screw inserted into the ankle after he broke it years ago. Initially, he was worried after the accident.
"I thought I was dead (as far as playing)," he said. "I've had a lot of damage to that left foot."
The cameraman, a freelance hired from the Cleveland area, was fired by YES. The network did not reveal his name.
YES spokesman Eric Handler said the cameraman had completed his shoot and had been told to shut down.
"Unbeknownst to us he continue to shoot," Handler said. "Because he did not follow instructions, and because it was his not following instructions that caused the accident, he was relieved of his duties."
In the lineup primarily for his defense, Mientkiewicz has the second-highest fielding percentage (.996) among first basemen with 500 or more career games and won a Gold Glove in 2001.
He said he felt bad for the cameraman.
"I don't want him to get fired. Accidents happen, especially for me. Everything happens to me," Mientkiewicz said.
Mientkiewicz injured his wrist June 2 in a collision with Boston's Mike Lowell. He had surgery and returned to the Yankees Sept. 1 and hit .429 (18-for-42) with a home run and eight RBIs in 22 games during the season's final month.