The battle begins: Schilling set to silence Yankees' bats

NEW YORK -- Curt Schilling signed with Boston for this very reason -- to silence the hated Yankees and pitch the Red Sox to that elusive World Series title.\n"I'm not sure I can think of any scenario more enjoyable than making 55,000 people from New York shut up," he said Monday, a day before starting the opener at Yankee Stadium against Mike Mussina.\nBefore the first pitch was even thrown, the AL championship series had players buzzing. They thought back to the 45 intense meetings between the rivals during the past two years, to the on-field fights and the clubhouse boasts.\nBut in a series that seemed predestined since Aaron Boone's Game 7 homer off Tim Wakefield won last October's playoff in the 11th inning, there was an element of uncertainty for the Yankees this time. It centered on the status of closer Mariano Rivera, who returned to Panama on Sunday after two of his relatives -- a cousin and his son -- were electrocuted in his swimming pool.\nWhile the Yankees said Rivera planned to be back for tonight's game, manager Joe Torre wasn't taking anything for granted.\n"If he's here tomorrow, obviously, it would be wonderful," Torre said. "If not, we understand that."\nTom Gordon, his left eye still a little blurry after it was hit by a champagne cork in Saturday's clubhouse celebration at Minnesota, will take over as the closer if Rivera is absent. Tanyon Sturtze and Paul Quantrill will replace Gordon as the setup man.\nWhile Gordon's good, he's not Rivera. No one else is.\n"I never had a problem with it. I enjoyed closing," Gordon said. "Whatever it takes for this team to get a win."\nFollowing Boston's first-round sweep of Anaheim and New York's 3-1 win over the Twins, Schilling and Mussina are rested heading into the opener. The Red Sox rotation has Pedro Martinez pitching Game 2 Wednesday, followed by Bronson Arroyo Friday at Fenway Park and Wakefield the following day in Game 4.\nJon Lieber and Kevin Brown follow Mussina for the Yankees, who still haven't decided between Orlando Hernandez or Javier Vazquez in the fourth game. El Duque, bothered by a tired arm, felt better Monday, when he threw about 60 pitches in a bullpen session, according to pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre.\nMajor league baseball decided Monday to move Game 5, the only scheduled afternoon contest of the series, into prime time, bumping the NLCS to the earlier time slot. They are the two biggest spenders in baseball, the Yankees at $186.4 million and the Red Sox at $128.1 million, according to the Aug. 31 payroll. Judging by the TV ratings, baseball fans are captivated by New York's Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez and Boston's Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.\n"I know this is what everyone was hoping for, I imagine," Mussina said. "I think it's the way it should be"