Granderson will give his all in New York

BIRMINGHAM, Mich.

Curtis Granderson will report to spring training at Steinbrenner Field next month, yet another All-Star in pinstripes. He will be expected to defend a world title that he didn't win. He will begin learning what it is like to be a star athlete in New York who is handsome, charismatic and single.

He will also learn that your dollar doesn't go as far in Manhattan as it does in Michigan.

"Oh, man," Granderson said with a smile on Sunday. "I'm looking now. I haven't even looked at any furniture, and I'm already paying double."

Granderson is leaning toward renting an apartment in the city, where most of the single Yankees live. But this is the same guy who ordered a double cheeseburger off the McDonald's dollar menu on the day he signed a $30 million contract. And he nearly ran his tank empty during a weekend drive from Chicago to Detroit because he had to fill up in Indiana, where gas is cheaper.

I trust he will find a nice place to live. More than that, I'm convinced that Granderson will be a smashing success for the Yankees this year.

If he hit 30 home runs while playing his home games at pitcher-friendly Comerica Park in 2009, then how many might he produce in the Bronx bandbox? Through work with highly regarded hitting coach Kevin Long, I expect Granderson will improve on last year's .249 batting average.

And it's apparent that he understands his role as one of many big-name players on his new team. While Granderson hasn't started a game in left field since 2005, he said Sunday that he would be willing to play there if asked.

As for the possibility that free agent Johnny Damon will return to play alongside him? Sure, he's following the news a little.

"I'm waiting to see what happens," Granderson said. "I'm not worried one way or the other. If he comes and I have to move, left or center, doesn't matter to me. If he doesn't come, same thing.

"I would like him to be there, just because he is left-handed and has done some great things in Boston and New York. Every time I've talked to him, he's been a great guy to talk to. To get a chance to be around him for a whole season, I think would be beneficial to me."

But for one day, at least, Broadway could wait. Granderson spent his Sunday afternoon at the Seaholm High School gymnasium in this Detroit suburb, raising money for the charitable cause -- public education -- that defines his off-the-field persona in many ways.

Technically, it was called the Third Annual Grand Kids Foundation Celebrity Shootout. But it took on greater significance following the three-team blockbuster that sent Granderson from the Tigers to the Yankees in December.

For one thing, the inner-city districts in Michigan need the money. (An estimated $60,000 was raised for them.) On top of that, Tigers fans wanted to say goodbye. When they watched their team lose the Oct. 6 epic in Minnesota, there was no way to know that Granderson had played his last game in center field for Detroit.

Plenty of Michigan sports notables turned out to coach or play: Lloyd Carr, Ben Gordon, Lomas Brown, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, Mateen Cleaves, Desmond Howard, Brian Rafalski. After lineups were announced, the house lights went down while a retrospective of Granderson's career played on projection screens throughout the gym.

As Green Day's "Time of Your Life" echoed over the loudspeakers, the crowd witnessed the home runs and stolen bases and over-the-wall catches that endeared him to so many. When it was over, Granderson emerged from the locker room with a referee's shirt on his chest and emotion all over his face.

He blinked his way through a standing ovation.

The trade was -- and is -- unpopular among many here. ("As a lifetime Tigers fan, I'm trying to figure why he didn't fit," Rose said.) But Detroiters have gradually accepted the fact that a new season will begin without Granderson. And so Sunday's event felt a little like a graduation party, too: After four years, the favorite son is heading to the Big City for a new chapter in his life.

"The bottom line in New York is the World Series," said Rose, who played for the Knicks in 2006. "As long as they win their games, he'll be just fine. They're measured on a different standard of excellence.

"He's going to have a different discipline, a different focus when he gets there. The focus there is going to be the World Series -- first, second and third."

I never put much stock in the idea -- cited by some as motivation for the trade -- that Granderson's charitable efforts in Detroit took away from his performance on the field. The Tigers' image in the community rose with each school visit; no fan or team employee should have second-guessed the choices he made.

If all athletes were as "flawed" as Curtis Granderson, the gossip pages would be boring indeed.

When asked about the criticism, Granderson pointed out that his busiest year of community work was 2007. That was also his best all-around season.

"So much is talked about players not doing something," he said. "Then I do something, and that's the reason why everyone thought I was playing bad. But my involvement with so many different things -- my book, my foundation, education, RBI, COTS (Coalition on Temporary Shelter) -- was very minimal.

"My (children's) book took two days. That's it. . . . If I did an autograph signing, it was on an off day. . . . It's amazing what's OK to spend your time on and what's not. If I were married and had kids, that's OK. But the fact that I'm helping out everyone else's kids, there seemed to be a problem with that."

Regardless, Granderson understands that the bigger buildings around him in New York will mean new walls in his life. He recently sent a mass email to family and friends, informing them that he won't necessarily be able to buy their game tickets and team apparel anymore.

He also spent time with friends on travel arrangements in recent years. Those days are probably over, too.

"That was one of my New Year's resolutions, trying to find ways to change things moving forward," he said. "Being with New York has given me the opportunity to start doing those things."

But that won't be easy for someone who is really lousy at saying no. We know already that Granderson's foundation isn't going away. If anything, the scope may widen to include national scholarships and initiatives. (Yes, Granderson's camp is well aware that Education Secretary Arne Duncan is a fellow Chicago native.)

So, he's still going to do a lot. But he can't do everything. As one friend of Granderson's put it: "People-pleaser Curtis can't exist anymore."

Maybe not. But Granderson has been generous with his time and money because he is grounded, and that part of his personality will serve him well in New York. He looks and sounds ready -- to the extent that any first-year Yankee can be.