Yankees sleep in morning after parade

Players opt not to pick up belongings from clubhouse

Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- One day after the Yankees electrified the Canyon of Heroes with one of the wildest championship celebrations in recent memory, the home clubhouse at Yankee Stadium was almost silent, preparing for baseball's hibernation.

In an annual exercise of autumn's turn toward winter, the Yankees opened the doors one final time, inviting players to collect their belongings before scattering to the offseason breezes.

But New York had just hosted one of the biggest parties of the year in the Yankees' honor, and the triumphant Bombers were recuperating Saturday morning.

Over a four-hour access period, not a single Yankees player or coach opted to appear in the Bronx. Declining to set their alarms to rise and shine for one morning probably provided a welcome respite for the Yankees, whose week has been a non-stop whirlwind.

As Derek Jeter said on Friday, the parade provided a chance to slow everything down and savor it.

"You get a chance to reflect," Jeter said, "to look at everybody together as one group. We have a lot of memories together. This is a day to celebrate and enjoy it."

From the moment on Wednesday night that Robinson Cano fielded a Shane Victorino ground ball and threw it to Mark Teixeira, ending the mission for a 27th World Series championship, the Yankees have unabashedly owned the city of New York. They've also strutted around as such.

Jeter, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte swapped barbs with David Letterman. Joba Chamberlain plopped on Jimmy Fallon's couch. The Yankees hit the hottest nightclubs in town and were feted by more than a million confetti-tossing fans, rejoicing in the end of the season.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet," Teixeira said on Friday. "I just have to keep reminding myself that we don't have another series to go.