from Newsday

TAMPA, Fla. - It's been more than eight months since Estee Harris made his debut as a professional ballplayer, but the experience still hasn't set in for the 19-year-old from Central Islip.

Even now, Harris has to remind himself that he's getting paid to play for the Yankees, the team he grew up adoring and the one that picked him in the second round of the amateur draft last June.

"It's baseball all day, every day here," the centerfielder said yesterday before an intrasquad game at the Yankees' minor-league complex. "I wouldn't want to be doing anything else."

Some of his most memorable experiences, however, have taken place outside of the games. Like the time last month when he took the field for his morning exercises and realized he was working out with Derek Jeter, Gary Sheffield and Jorge Posada.

Or the time he shared the hitting cage with Alex Rodriguez, who just happened to be taking batting practice for the first time as a Yankee.

Harris' eyes open wide as he tells each story, almost as if even he has a hard time believing this is his life.

"I feel like a fan, like I'm not even a player," Harris said. "As soon as I get home, I call home and say, 'Mom, Dad, guess what happened today ... '"

After signing with the Yankees on July 16, he left for Tampa, where he played 27 games for their Gulf Coast League team and batted .277 with six home runs and 18 RBIs in 101 at-bats.

Harris said the biggest adjustment he had to make was dealing with pitchers throwing 90 miles per hour, though that was nothing compared to the lifestyle changes he had to make.

Living on his own for the first time, Harris had to deal with everyday chores such as buying groceries, doing laundry and paying bills, tasks that never even crossed his mind during his high school years.

"That's when you know you're an adult," he said, "when you start paying taxes."

After the Gulf Coast League schedule ended in August, Harris said he enjoyed the next five months at home, spending some time hanging out with friends but mostly working out.

He returned to Tampa near the end of January, joining fellow minor-leaguers for a pre-spring training minicamp as he readied himself for his next step, which likely will be with the Class-A Battle Creek (Mich.) Yankees of the Midwest League.

He's even had a few autograph requests, some even referring to him by name.

"It's weird," he said. "I'm just shocked, still shocked when I put on this uniform and think of where I am."