TAMPA, Fla. --
Carl Pavano and Mike Mussina emerged from their closed-door meeting in the clubhouse attendants' office Friday afternoon with smiles -- and no bruises or black eyes.
They spent 11 minutes hashing out their differences, and it seemed as if their conversation went remarkably smoothly. Mussina said he apologized to Pavano for ripping him to reporters instead of to his face, and Pavano told him he understands his frustration.
Although Pavano -- who hasn't pitched for the Yankees since June 2005 because of numerous injuries -- still needs to prove to his Yankees teammates that he is healthy and willing to pitch in pinstripes, it seemed as if he took a healthy step forward.
"I think he understands where we're coming from, the other guys in the clubhouse," Mussina said. "I told him, I said, 'The best thing for you to do is to focus on this year, focus on what's in front of you and not what's behind you. You can't change all of that."'
Pavano, 31, has pitched only 100 innings in 17 games in his two-year Yankees career, compiling a 4-6 record and 4.77 ERA in 2005.
One day earlier, Mussina discussed Pavano's situation in shockingly honest terms with about a dozen reporters, saying Pavano's laundry list of injuries and failed rehabs "got to a point where we didn't even want to hear about it or talk about it."
Mussina also had said he did not think Pavano deserved his benefit of the doubt because of what already had happened, and that he needs to prove to his teammates that he wants to pitch for the Yankees. This was in response to Pavano's assertion to reporters that he believes his problems in the clubhouse are mostly a media-driven story.
Pavano sought out Mussina immediately after their morning workout Friday; they were in the same group for each of their drills but had little to no interaction with each other. "I think his comments should have been between me and him," Pavano said.
Mussina said: "It shouldn't have happened that way. But at some point, we probably would have needed to do it anyhow."
Mussina said their private conversation was not uncomfortable; he described the talk more as a healthy exchange between two players who needed to have a chat of this sort.
"I understood his frustration all along," Pavano said. "I understand. He's been going along counting on me, and with everything that happened last year -- coincidentally this goes wrong, streaks of bad luck -- it kind of looks like I didn't want to be out there. And he's out there pitching and battling every fifth day. In a way it wasn't fair to him. Now we're on the same page."
Mussina said: "We need all of us to contribute to this team. He said it himself. He's disappointed with what happened. He feels as though he's let this group down, and he has to go out and pitch. At least he's put it out there that it bothers him what happened."
Before their meeting, manager Joe Torre said he might speak with Pavano in the next few days. "He has to get the clubhouse back," he said. "I don't think that's any secret."
But Mussina came away from his one-on-one meeting with Pavano feeling optimistic that Pavano understands what he needs to do on and off the field to help himself become part of this team.
Mussina said he does not think Pavano needs to address the team, and Pavano said he still does not plan to seek out teammates. But his talk with Mussina seems to have laid the groundwork for a positive atmosphere.
"It helped for him to hear our side of it from someone," Mussina said, "and it helps us to hear his side of it from him."
