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<p>MOOSIC &#8211; Once the final whistle blows in the Super Bowl, Mark Teixeira makes a bold proclamation.</p><p>&#8220;I tell everyone that it&#8217;s time to go back to work,&#8221; the New York Yankee first baseman said Thursday night at PNC Field. &#8220;In the offseason, you kind of feel like a normal person &#8211; which is great. But being the first baseman of the Yankees is much cooler. Being normal is fun in the offseason, and I&#8217;ve put in a ton of work. I spent a lot of time with my family, but I am a baseball player. I tell everyone that after the Super Bowl, I&#8217;m ready to go to spring training.&#8221;</p><p>Teixeira was in Moosic as part of an event where the first baseman spent some time mingling with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders&#8217; season-ticket holders and other invited guests.</p><p>One look tells a pretty good story.</p><p>Coming off a 2015 campaign that was cut short because of a leg injury in August, Teixeira surely doesn&#8217;t look like a player that was on crutches a few months ago.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve haven&#8217;t been this strong &#8211; probably since my first couple years in the league,&#8221; he told media members. &#8220;The gluten-free diet has helped. I&#8217;m hitting the weights harder. I went an entire year of not lifting weights the way I wanted to because of the wrist injury.&#8221;</p><p>While the leg injury cut last season short, it was the wrist injury he sustained in 2013 that lingered through the better part of two years.</p><p>Physically, he admits that he couldn&#8217;t swing the bat with his technique.</p><p>Mentally, it provided a huge hurdle to clear.</p><p>&#8220;Injuries make you appreciate the game more. You don&#8217;t feel sorry for yourself. You can&#8217;t always be healthy,&#8221; Teixeira said. &#8220;Every single team has injury problems. This injury was nothing compared to the wrist injury. That took me about a year, maybe more, to get over. The doctor told me the wrist would heal in a year, and it would take another six months to a year after that. I had that surgery in 2013, and 2014 was a frustrating year for me.&#8221;</p><p>Before the 2015 injury, Teixeira was having a bounce-back campaign &#8211; hitting .255 with 31 home runs and 79 RBI.</p><p>Instead of playing in the postseason, he was on the sidelines as a promising Yankee season came crashing down.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s motivation for me, and hopefully, it&#8217;s motivation for the team. Sometimes, you have an injury that you can&#8217;t help,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s one of those things where you want to get better. You appreciate the game more when you are out. I&#8217;ve taken every injury in my career as a blessing, and I&#8217;ve tried to turn everything around to see how I can get better. I&#8217;m going to be 36 in April, and honestly, I feel better than I did at 26. It&#8217;s because I put the extra work in after the injuries.&#8221;</p><p>And the Yankees are going to need their first baseman even more.</p><p>Greg Bird, a promising young talent, is going to miss all of the 2016 season because of shoulder surgery. His short stint in the majors gave the big club some hope &#8211; even though Bird most likely would have been a RailRider in 2016 as Teixeira is in the final year of an 8-year, 180-million contract.</p><p>&#8220;Birdie is a great kid, and he&#8217;s going to have a special career,&#8221; Teixeira said. &#8220;You never want to miss a whole season, especially at a young age. I never really had any major injury problems until my 11th season in the big leagues. I was very lucky in that standpoint. You either get bitter or you get better. You never want to feel too sorry for yourself. You just train a little harder, and you get a little bit more focus. Hopefully, it will make you a better player.&#8221;</p><p>Now, the focus turns to Tampa, Fla., where the Yankees hold their spring training.</p><p>&#8220;There are very few jobs out there that you take three or four months off from your job completely,&#8221; Teixeira said. &#8220;You see the guys again, and you hit the sunshine. You get energy from the fans, which is fun. It&#8217;s the hope of a new season. Only one team gets to lift that World Series trophy, but all 30 think they are going to be that team in spring training. &#8220;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Visiting New York Yankee, starting first baseman, Mark Teixeira, chats with Jaivon Jones, 9, Wilkes-Barre (center), and Dawson Robbins-Crane, 9, Bloomsburg. Both boys are members of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Teixeira-PNC-Field-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Visiting New York Yankee, starting first baseman, Mark Teixeira, chats with Jaivon Jones, 9, Wilkes-Barre (center), and Dawson Robbins-Crane, 9, Bloomsburg. Both boys are members of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Teixeira-PNC-Field-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees first baseman, took questions from the audience of season ticket holders of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at PNC Field in Moosic on Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Teixeira-PNC-Field-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees first baseman, took questions from the audience of season ticket holders of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at PNC Field in Moosic on Thursday. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Teixeira-PNC-Field-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira is seen sporting the new 2016 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders jersey during a question and answer session with season ticket holders on Thursday. The jersey was later raffled off to the winner from New York City. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Teixeira-PNC-Field-3.jpg</photo2><caption2>New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira is seen sporting the new 2016 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders jersey during a question and answer session with season ticket holders on Thursday. The jersey was later raffled off to the winner from New York City. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Teixeira-PNC-Field-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mark Teixeira waved to good-bye to all those in attendance at PNC Field, host of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Teixeira was in town promoting the upcoming Yankee and RailRiders season on Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Teixeira-PNC-Field-4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Mark Teixeira waved to good-bye to all those in attendance at PNC Field, host of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Teixeira was in town promoting the upcoming Yankee and RailRiders season on Thursday. </caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Fox</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader Sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Yankee Teixeira visits area chats with RailRiders season ticket holders