Clearwater, FL., March 4 — One of baseball’s undeniable charms is its simplicity, an aspect that has lent itself to some great writing. It is not a pursuit that lends itself to long tortured, multi-claused sentences, but rather short bursts of descriptive prose. The words writers use to describe the action of the game, the tools employed, and the results on the field of play all lend themselves to straight, to-the-point reportage.

There is a ball, a bat, the bases, the lines, the wall, the plate, the mound. Pitchers throw, toss, fire, peg, and curve. Batters swing, strike, mash, blast, bunt, and pop that rock. The batter is out, or safe, he tries to score a run, to round the bases, to reach home.

But on March 4, the Philadelphia Phillies and the city of Clearwater, Florida, added a new descriptive term to the lexicon. The Phillies opened their new playground and their Spring season in brand, spanking new Brighthouse Field by beating the New York Yankees, 5-1. And in so doing, the word they introduced to the “field” was “Tiki.” Not only did a hardy group catch the whole game from the Tiki Bar that adorns the area beyond the left field wall, a regular stream paid it a visit during the day, and the area remained party central a full hour after the game ended.

March 4 has not always represented a high point in Phillies history. On this day in 1944, the team tried to change its fortunes with a name change after a string of bad seasons had culminated in their 64-90-3 1943 season. So they became the Philadelphia Blue Jays for two years. The next season was more of the same, but the 1945 team’s mark dipped to 46-108. The Blue Jays name was shelved and they have been the Phillies ever since.

And they looked good in the debut of a 2004 team filled with hope. Placido Polanco, ex-Yank prospect Eric Milton, and Amaury Telemacho retired the first 13 Yankees on an efficient 44 pitches. Young Phillies Jimmy Rollins and Marlon Byrd made excellent plays on Gary Sheffield in the second and Homer Bush in the fourth, respectively. Jim Thome’s opposite field fly carried into the Tiki area for one of two homers, and they amassed 10 hits while making no miscues.

The day was gorgeous with a first-pitch temp of 85 degrees, and bright sunshine filtering through high, puffy clouds. But if the debut of the Phillies’ new playground, and of their 2004 team, was a success, the first time out for the heralded Bronx Bombers was anything but. They finished the day with as many errors as hits (three apiece), and managed to get only four runners as far as second base. And while it did not cost a run, new centerfielder Kenny Lofton, aside from popping out meekly three times, got a bad break on Scott Burrell’s liner to the right-centerfield gap leading off the fourth.

The pitching story, however, was generally good. Young Jorge DePaula found himself behind 1-0 quickly after allowing back-to-back singles to lead off the game, though the unearned run would not have scored had a rushed Sheffield throw not gotten past third base on the second hit. (The following two errors, by the way, did not figure in the scoring, both were added well after the plays in which they occurred, and the one on Mike Lamb diving to the shortstop hole in the fourth was almost a fabulous play.) DePaula’s day was OK, Gabe White struggled, Paul Quantrill was sharp (despite Thome’s poke), and Tom “Flash” Gordon displayed electric stuff, despite allowing a one-out walk in the ninth. The swings and misses on back-to-back strike outs did not come against the cream of the Phillie crop, it’s true, but the batters’ flails and stumbles spoke volumes about the quality of the wily vet’s pitches.

The only two players to play nine innings were Miguel Cairo at short and Mike Lamb at third. The former made some nice grabs on over-the-shoulder pops, but looked overmatched at the plate, while Lamb, who is unlikely to have a spot on this team, played a very good game. He knocked down several hot shots and recovered with strong throws, and his line drive double to left center in the fifth delivered Matsui with the Yankees’ only tally. Travis Lee went one-for-two after subbing for Giambi after the third, and he had a particularly explosive bp session before the game.

Friday the same two teams play the opener at Legends Field. The weather promises to be more of the same. Perhaps I can lead that column off the way I wanted to start this one: “Rodriguez singles in first Yankee at bat!” And it would have been true, even today. Struggling to come back from four down in the ninth on Thursday, Torre sent up a pinch-hitter to lead off. Nonroster invitee John Rodriguez came through with a lead-off single.

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!