Sports

BASEBALL FOR BREAKFAST

The Mets’ road to the 2000 World Series started with two games in Japan against the Cubs. The Red Sox will open in the same place as those Mets, but hope to go one step further for the second straight season.

Boston’s defense of its World Series title will start thousands of miles from Fenway Park when the Red Sox take on the A’s at the Tokyo Dome almost a week before the rest of baseball begins the regular season.

Yankee fans can hope the cross-globe trip hurts their arch rivals. Both the 2000 Mets and 2004 Yankees, who traveled to Japan to play the Devil Rays, got off to a less than terrific starts after their overseas trips.

“I admit we were a little sluggish for a week or so during the regular season,” recalled Steve Phillips, the Met GM in 2000 and now an analyst for ESPN.

“But I don’t think you can use that as an excuse for them to fail. We left behind some starting pitchers, so we had them fresh.”

The Red Sox are taking a different approach by flying almost their entire roster with them to Japan because they are playing several exhibition games before the two-game set with the A’s – a move Phillips says could keep the Red Sox from resting too much on last year’s accomplishments.

“Sometimes after a good or winning season, having something different is good because it doesn’t allow you to become complacent,” said Phillips, who was added to the ESPN broadcast roster after Rick Sutcliffe was diagnosed with colon cancer last week.

“There’s something to get you excited, and it does feel like it’s new and different. So from the Red Sox’ perspective it’s probably really good for them.”

Japanese native Daisuke Matsuzaka will be starting Opening Day for the Sox, while Hideki Okajima will be featured out of the bullpen as Jonathan Papelbon’s setup man. While Matsuzaka received all the hype when signed by the Red Sox, Okajima made a big splash in Boston, too.

This trip, which the Red Sox nearly boycotted Wednesday after a dispute over coaches’ pay, could make the club front-runners for the next wave of Japanese players making the move to America.

“You want to be perceived as an international force and make it easier to land some players,” Phillips said.

One of the players the Red Sox are leaving behind could be the one most crucial to their success. Josh Beckett, who has been suffering from a back strain, was the key to the Red Sox’ World Series title run last year. And like the 2000 Mets – who lost to the Yankees in the Series – the toughest challenge standing in the way of the Red Sox could reside in The Bronx.

Beckett is one guy who has proved he can be the difference in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, especially if it comes down to a post-season clash.

“Beckett is critical to their success, so I think they are making the right decision by not sending him to Japan,” Phillips said.

Key showdowns will now be in the pitching hands of Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy for the Bombers and Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz for the Red Sox, with Roger Clemens retired and Curt Schilling out indefinitely.

“I think all these young guys on these teams have the potential to dominate on any given day, but because they’re young they have a potential to deliver a clunker,” Phillips said.

“Because of their inexperience of not pitching on the major-league level, they are going to have those days when they are going to miss their spots and get knocked around a little.”

justin.terranova@nypost.com