CLEVELAND – After two seasons as Chien-Ming Wang’s next-door-neighbor at Yankee Stadium, in the clubhouse sense, Johnny Damon still doesn’t know much about the quiet right-hander.
“[Wang] kind of sits there and does his fan mail, looks at his magazines and likes watches,” Damon said yesterday. “He’s a quiet guy. He’s just consistent business.”
It’s that business-like approach the Yankees are counting on tonight. For the second straight season Wang is asked to help get the Yanks a victory in Game 1 of the AL Division Series.
The Yanks will gladly take a typical Wang performance. That means six or seven innings with one or two runs allowed. Wang was 19-6 with a 3.70 ERA in the regular season, losing only once over the final seven weeks. His mound opponent is Cleveland’s own top gun and Cy Young award candidate, C.C. Sabathia.
With some prodding from reporters yesterday, Wang volunteered that his mother and father will be at tonight’s game. But he didn’t offer much more than to acknowledge that answering questions in a press conference makes him more uneasy than pitching in the playoffs.
“I don’t get nervous,” Wang said, referring to the game. “It’s . . . the same [pitching] in the postseason.”
Wang was the winning pitcher in Game 1 of the ALDS last season when he allowed three earned runs over 62/3 innings, helping the Yankees beat the Tigers 8-4. The Yanks didn’t win again in the series.
A year earlier Wang got his first taste of the postseason, and was the losing pitcher in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Angels, despite allowing one earned run over 6 2/3 innings.
For his career Wang is 2-1 with a 3.72 ERA against the Indians, but he did not face them this season. He’s started only once at Jacobs Field, where he is 0-1 with an 8.44 ERA.
“When you face a team 20 times in a year, you’ve pretty much got an idea about them,” catcher Jorge Posada said. “So you’re able to have some experience and look back at tapes and try to have a plan. When you don’t have any idea about the other team you can only do so much video and try to have a plan when you face a guy.”
But Wang considers the advantage in his favor, since the Indians haven’t seen him much.
“It’s very good for me, because I can do a scouting report a lot,” Wang said. “[Study] the guy hitting.”
Helping Wang’s cause is the fact slick fielding Doug Mientkiewicz will start at first base. The Yankees’ other defensive weapon is Melky Cabrera in center field.
“You want to be able to pitch and play defense, and I think those two guys bring a lot,” Posada said. “Mientkiewicz has been a great first baseman and Melky takes a lot of hits away.”
mpuma@nypost.com