Nick Swisher was worried when he found out the Yankees had traded for him this offseason.

“I was a little nervous when I first got the call,” Swisher said. “I think as soon as I got the call I went down and shaved my face to see what it was going to feel like.

“As an outsider looking in, you look it as a very corporate team. But then again you see the 26 World Championships and it’s like alright, ’I’m in’. I bought into everything.”

Now Swisher may be a big part of the team’s 27th as they prepare for the ALCS against the Angels. Swisher has been given a lot of credit for the way his personality has made the clubhouse more affable.

“I think the group changed,” said Swisher, who was given the full-time duties in right field when Xavier Nady went down with an elbow injury in the second week of the season.

“You can come in and add you own little thing to this core group that has been so successful.”