NOTEBOOK | From the World Series

In a New York minute: Aaron Boone went from hero to goat in a hurry. That's how things go in New York. The third baseman's 11th-inning home run won the American League pennant for the Yankees against Boston on Thursday night. The next day, he was hailed at a City Hall rally, greeted by the mayor, all kinds of neat stuff. Then things began to turn on him. On Saturday in the World Series opener, Boone cut off a throw that allowed a run to score for Florida in the fifth inning. It was vital in Florida's 3-2 victory. He also went 0-for-4. Then, in Game 2, he made two errors, the second with two outs in the ninth inning as Andy Pettitte was closing in on a shutout. Pettitte then gave up an RBI hit to Derrek Lee and was lifted. "You want him to get his shutout, obviously," Boone said. "It was a do-or-die play. It would have been nice to get the shutout, but that's baseball." The fans were in no mood for mistakes and booed Boone's misplay, forgetting perhaps that without his homer three days earlier, the Yankees might not have been in the World Series.Slump-buster: Nick Johnson noticed how successful the Marlins were with small ball so he used some of it to break out of a postseason slump. Johnson was 1-for-33 before hitting a home run in Game 2 of the ALCS against Boston. But he had not been able to shake his slump and was stuck in a 7-for-43 postseason slide after going 0-for-4 in the World Series opener. So when he came to bat in the second inning of Game 2 Sunday night, he tried something different -- a bunt. He beat it out for the first of three hits and scored two runs in the Yankees' 6-1 victory. Johnson said he bunted on his own and it wasn't the first time. "I tried it a couple of times this year," he said. "I was trying to get on base any way I can. The guy was back at third base so I tried to lay it down. I was trying to get something going any way I could." Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell wasn't surprised. "It's the World Series," Lowell said. "He's going to try anything to get on base. ... I just figured if he wanted to bunt his way on, I'll give him one shot to do it." Johnson said he had no special formula for breaking the slump. "You try to swing at strikes," he said. "You try to stay back on the ball, try to see it and stay in the middle. You try to have consistent at-bats." Johnson will likely go to the bench in Florida, where there will be no DH and the Yankees will use Jason Giambi at first base.Lineup shuffle: Joe Torre shook up his lineup for Game 7 of the ALCS, dropping Jason Giambi to seventh and promoting Nick Johnson to second. Then he changed them up again Sunday, Giambi at No. 3, Johnson at No. 8. That was after he toyed with flipping Johnson and Aaron Boone, who batted seventh. Derek Jeter batted third in the World Series opener and moved back to No. 2 on Sunday. "We've got a ball club that you can move them around any which way you want," Torre said. "The best part about this is this is probably the only club I've ever managed that nobody has come in and said, 'I have trouble hitting in this spot,' or 'I need to hit there,' or whatever. That for a manager, makes just dealing with a lot of things easier."No kicks for Dontrelle: High-kicking Dontrelle Willis went with a more compact delivery in Game 1 of the World Series, and the Marlins want him to use the same motion when coming out of the bullpen. At the suggestion of pitching coach Wayne Rosenthal, Willis threw from the stretch Saturday, even with the bases empty. "I've always liked him in the stretch better than the windup," Rosenthal said. Even from the stretch, Willis has a high leg kick, but he turns his body less than from the windup, and that simplifies his mechanics. "I saw more life and movement on the ball," Rosenthal said. The rookie left-hander, who had an ERA of 12.00 in the playoffs, pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief against the Yankees. "He threw like the old Dontrelle," manager Jack McKeon said. Yankees hitting coach Rick Down doesn't think the adjustment made much of a difference for Willis. "He's good no matter where he's coming from," Down said. The Marlins plan to have Willis keep throwing from the stretch in relief. He or Carl Pavano will start Game 4 in Miami.