ON THIS team, the No. 9 hitter matters. On this team, not built around the almighty homer, the ability to have professional at-bats, run the bases expertly and make every play at third base matters. So Scott Brosius matters.

Teammates recognized that yesterday when Brosius returned from an injury-rehab stint in Tampa to smiles and handshakes in the Yankee clubhouse. A piece of the fabric that makes the Yankees special had been reattached.

“There is no doubt we were exposed there for a while [without Brosius],” Paul O’Neill said. “When everybody is in the lineup and healthy, things run smoothly around here. This is no knock on Bell [Clay Bellinger] or [Alfonso] Soriano, but everyone has their part here and Scott is one of those guys who plays a part.”

In a way, Brosius epitomizes these recent Yankees. Their power is not in power or any other singular phase of the game, but in their lack of weakness at anything.

The Yankees share some similarity with the Utah Jazz, albeit a Utah Jazz with a championship pedigree. Utah has ignored the slam-dunk philosophy of today’s NBA to run its pick-and-roll, hard-nosed, fundamental style to success. The Yankees have shunned the homer-happy philosophy of today’s major leagues to win with the long at-bat, the quality start and the steadiness of their personality. They have power, but don’t live and die with it.

Brosius is part of a core group of players within the Yankee clubhouse who bring the same professionalism daily. Joe Torre never has to worry about O’Neill, Derek Jeter, Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera and plenty of others on his roster. They are going to be prepared and serious about the game every day.

And Brosius helps within the delicate eco-system that is how this team wins games. He is a Gold Glove. He may not be fleet, but he is a heady baserunner. And he is as tough an out at the No. 9 hole as there is in the American League. It is too simplistic to suggest that his absence has been central to why the Yankees have not played crisply for any extended period this season. But his presence should help reverse that trend.

“We don’t pound people 15-1, we win the 5-4 and 4-3 games,” O’Neill said. “We win with timely hitting, pitching and defense. And when you take Brosius out of the lineup you lose timely hitting and defense that helps the pitching. He is a player that helps us win those close games.”

Brosius strained his right ribcage in the second game of the season. In his absence, Bellinger and especially Soriano hardly mimicked Brosius’ Gold Glove capabilities. The Yanks have committed an unsightly seven errors at third base. Brosius could not have returned at a better time, with groundball specialist Ramiro Mendoza going last night and Andy Pettitte coming off the DL today with hopes of getting the Twins to bounce the ball continually to the left side.

Brosius’ steadiness at the bottom of the order also was missed. Yankee No. 9 batters were hitting just .237 going into last night compared to the AL average of .262, and the bottom four spots in the lineup were only at a combined .211 compared to the AL average of .266.

“Defensively, I don’t want to knock anyone else, but the bottom line is that Bro is the best,” Jeter said. “And offensively he gives us power and base hits at the bottom of the order. He has a complete game and that helps our complete game.”

Martinez said, “Scott makes a lot of plays on defense that no one else makes. Our pitchers have been forced to throw extra pitches because he has not been there. It is a subtle thing, but I think he gives our pitchers a boost just by being there.”

For Brosius, the return is nirvana. He says he simply is not good at not playing. “How many sunflower seeds can you eat?” he asked. To him, the days have been interminable. If there is any solace, he explains, it’s that the injury occurred so early in the season and “not in September when I would be missing all the fun.”

Following a 1999 that was disrupted and diminished by the sickness and then the death of his father to colon cancer, Brosius had envisioned a 2000 without blemishes, a 2000 in which he could just do this thing he craves. Instead, early in the second game of the season, he described feeling a pain akin to being stabbed by a knife. The initial prognosis was that he would be out much longer. But he has returned in under three weeks.

“It is not the best situation, but it is my situation,” Brosius said. “I have no other choice but to accept it. This is really the beginning of my season. I have two at-bats and there is nothing I can do to change that. I can’t make up for missing this time in one day. To me, this is like Opening Day again.”

So the Yankees get back their third baseman, their No. 9 hitter and a part of their professional quilt. It matters.