"One great thing about being a Yankee is that you can never get a big head," said Teixeira, who homered in the 2005 All-Star game when he was with Texas. "If you think you're any good, then you just look out to Monument Park and look at the names. Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, DiMaggio. Those guys were the greatest of all time.
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Family matters to Yankees' Mark Teixeira
BASEBALL
The first baseman enjoyed his time with the Angels, but when he became a free agent he decided to play near his home.
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"The pinstripes are special. The Yankees are the most successful organization in sports history."
It's a tradition he takes seriously too. Teixeira was one of the first players to sign up for a new community-service project the team will debut later this month, one it hopes the rest of the baseball will adopt. Rather than focusing all their activities around the stadium, Yankees players will go out into the city to visit and work with individuals and organizations. Teixeira is scheduled to appear on the "Today" show July 20 to talk about the program.
"These fans," Teixeira says, "are great."
He puts Angels fans in the same class.
"I had 2 1/2 of the best months of my career" in Anaheim, he says. "I loved every second of playing in Anaheim. My family loved visiting and staying in Laguna Beach.
"That's a special organization. If my family was from the West Coast I'd probably still be an Angel. But family is very important to me and I hope people can understand that."
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kevin.baxter@latimes.com
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BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX
Tex marks the spot
Comparing Mark Teixeira to the Angels' first basemen this season (all numbers are as first basemen only):
TEIXEIRA
308 - AT BATS
52 - RUNS
85 - HITS
22 - DOUBLES
0 - TRIPLES
20 - HRs
59 - RBI
48 - WALKS
52 - SO
.276 - AVG.
.384 - OB.%
.542 - SLG.%
ANGELS
315 - AT BATS
38 - RUNS
89 - HITS
25 - DOUBLES
2 - TRIPLES
14 - HRs
47 - RBI
27 - WALKS
67 - SO
.283 - AVG.
.338 - OB.%
.508 - SLG.%
