from the New York Times

Wherever Enrique Wilson goes, the Protector of the Earth watches over him. At Yankee Stadium, he is there. At Tropicana Field or the Metrodome, he is there.

The Protector of Earth is made of plastic. He is about five inches tall and green, with a menacing scowl and bright, pink muscles bulging off his arms. His name is Piccolo, and he is an action figure from the Japanese cartoon series Dragonball Z.

Before Saturday's game at the Metrodome, Wilson, a reserve infielder for the Yankees, gave a different one of his action figures to outfielder Bernie Williams, whose son is a fan of the show. Wilson explained that he had two of the one he gave to Williams. It was a more human-looking character named Vegeta, the Jealous Prince.

Wilson is 28 years old, but he is hopelessly addicted to Dragonball Z. Three action figures from the show stand on the top shelf of his locker at home and on the road. Under his uniform, Wilson wears a T-shirt emblazoned with an action scene from the series. On team flights, he watches DVD's of Dragonball Z.

"When I was a kid, I liked watching Spider-Man and Superman," Wilson said. "But these guys are more aggressive."

Wilson prefers the uncensored DVD's, where none of the violence is edited out. He has a 3-year-old daughter, Melissa, and tries to keep the graphic scenes out of her view. Wilson's wife, Leydis, is expecting a son in three weeks, and Melissa is disappointed that her parents will be buying toys for a child besides her. But Melissa might not realize that her father already buys toys for another big kid -- himself.

When he gave the action figure to Williams, Wilson was prepared with a backup for himself to keep his traveling action-figure squad at three. The other day, he bought Hajin Buu, a squat, Jabba-the-Hut-like pink character classified as a bad guy. Now, forces of good and evil will overlook Wilson in every town.