Faulkner/AP

Texas Rangers CEO Chuck Greenberg calls Yankee  fans (below) "violent," "apathetic," and "an embarrassment" in an  interview with a Texas sports talk radio station Monday.

Willens/AP

ARLINGTON - When Rangers CEO Chuck Greenberg went out of his way to slam Yankee fans Monday, you can't help but think that Cliff Lee plays into this somehow.

Lee's wife had already gone public about being horrified by the way Rangers' family members were treated at Yankee Stadium during the ALCS,  so maybe Greenberg sensed an opportunity to play to the fear factor and  help convince the Lees that New York is no place for them to live, even  on a seasonal basis.

In that case, we should all stay tuned for the owner's reaction if  and when Lee says thanks to the Rangers for their offer but he is going  to take his talents to the South Bronx in baseball's version of The Decision.

Would Greenberg then paint Lee as a greedy so-and-so? In other words,  would he respond with a bit of the ugliness that he seems to be saying  is inherent in Yankee fans?

Whatever role Lee's free agency may play in Greenberg's comments,  however, there is a larger theme at work here. I'm not sure where he saw  the apathy he mentioned, but the violent behavior, at least in terms of  anger and incivility, is surely real.

Let's face it, there is a segment of Yankee fans that seems to think being obnoxious is part of the job description.

I can tick off a list of dozens of people I either know personally or  have heard from via e-mail that have had awful experiences taking in a  game at the Stadium because of some fans who are vulgar as well as  loud-mouthed, and usually well-lubricated.

And this is coming from mostly Yankee fans themselves, often who  regretted taking their kids to the game and exposing them to such  language and behavior. Some regretted it even more when they appealed to  the loud-mouths to show some regard for the kids.

It's not just Yankee fans, though. You can have the same experience in Boston or Philadelphia or even Texas.

Rangers fans were out in force, for example, here before Game 6 of the ALCS last week, cursing and threatening Nick Swisher from the stands as the Yankees did their pregame stretching - all in response to Swisher being quoted  saying that he was tired of hearing about Cliff Lee and couldn't wait to  hit against him again.

So Greenberg shouldn't pretend as if New York is the jungle and every  other stadium is full of peace, love and understanding. That being  said, there's no doubt the atmosphere at the Stadium is rowdier and  edgier than at Rangers Ballpark.

Part of it seems to be that some Yankee fans seem to think it's their  responsibility to create a hostile environment - and live up to their  reputation as a tough crowd.

PHOENIX  -- A trip home to Indiana would have been nice after six weeks of  spring training, a 162-game schedule and the underachieving season the Los Angeles Dodgers had.

Don Mattingly just didn’t have time for it.

The  former player known as Donnie Baseball had more baseball to coach, more  on-the-job training to get after being named the Dodgers’ next manager.

So, after the season was over, Mattingly headed to the desert to  honor his commitment to manage in the prospect-rich Arizona Fall  League, the training ground for his turn in the spotlight next year when  he takes over for the departed Joe Torre.

“It’s been really good for me,” Mattingly said. “It’s kind of the price you pay to get where you’re going.”

Mattingly  is skipper of the Phoenix Desert Dogs and will spend six weeks — until  the third week of November — in Arizona, managing every day with a  handful of off days as he gets ready for his first shot as a big-league  manager.

“I feel like I’m ready to manage,” Mattingly said. “Am I  ready for next year? We’ve been working on it ever since the season  ended. ... Kind of getting ready for next year as I’m doing this.”

Mattingly has been pulling some double duty while he’s here.

With  the Dodgers’ spring complex, Camelback Ranch, located in nearby  Glendale, he often goes there after Desert Dogs games for evening  meetings with general manager Ned Colletti, Dodgers coaches,  minor-league staff and members of the scouting department.

“It’s  been fun to see these guys and be around it and have to actually do it,”  Mattingly said recently. “A lot of these guys I’ve seen, but really you  get to see young guys all over the league, so you kind of get a view of  what guys have going on, you have a better feel for players as you  start to see them in the big leagues.”

The Desert Dogs, like the  five other teams in the league, are a collection of younger, highly  regarded players from a variety of major-league teams. Mattingly gets to  work with Dodgers prospects he knows from spring training; the Desert  Dogs have eight players from the Los Angeles organization.

“This  is an opportunity for me to show him what I can do,” Dodgers outfield  prospect Trayvon Robinson said, “Just in case he gets it in the back of  his head like he does need somebody. Needs a baserunner. Needs an  outfielder. Needs an outfielder who can come off the bench and  switch-hit.”

Arms draped over the padded dugout railing,  Mattingly offers a few words of wisdom and encouragement to his players  every so often during games. He’s using this fall as a chance to make  decisions in games and watch bullpen sessions, and also to make sure he  spreads out the playing time and teaches.

At 49, he’s come up  with his managerial style from 14 years as a player, seven as a bench  coach and hitting coach, and seven as a special instructor with the Yankees in spring training.

“You  draw off of everyone,” Mattingly said. “Everyone you’ve played for,  played against, guys I played with, they create who you are and what you  think about how the game should be played and what you would do.”

Mattingly learned from his former managers, Lou Piniella, Billy Martin, Dallas Green and  Buck Showalter, and observed the way teams played under Tom Kelly, Tony  LaRussa and Jim Leyland. He decided he wanted to manage later in his  playing career.

“You watch all the time, so you’re paying  attention to everybody you play against. So you take from everybody,”  Mattingly said. “Your club kind of tells you how you have to play.”

The  Dodgers are a club that will be trying to regain control of the NL West  after winning the division in 2008 and 2009, then being contenders in  2010 until things fell apart right after the All-Star break.

As hitting coach, Mattingly was along for the bumpy ride as the Dodgers parted company with Torre following an 80-82 season.

“A  lot of things went wrong, but I don’t think we can forget what we did  in ’08 and ’09,” Mattingly said. “We were a club that was a couple of  games from getting to the World Series, with a lot of these same guys,  so we can’t get too far away from how we got there. These guys got us  there.”