Johnson asked each player if his club gives him the freedom to run on his own. Each player given that liberty in the regular season will have it with Team USA. Johnson wants to play an aggressive offensive style that will "let them express their talent.''

The personality makeup of this team is different, too. Johnson suggested the 2006 team suffered from an inflated opinion of itself.

"They thought they could throw their gloves out there and win,'' Johnson said. "They didn't realize there are good players all around the globe. It was a jolt to them.''

Rollins said there are "probably less egos, from what I've heard,'' on this team that the first edition. That club included the over-sized egos of third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who jumped to the Dominican Republic team, and righthander Roger Clemens. It was a grim group.

The current team is younger and has a higher energy level. On its first day together, Team USA had more belly laughs than at any time in 2006.

"It's going to take that kind of chemistry for us to do better than we did in '06,'' said Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones, back for a second try. "Everybody is taking the attitude that we're going to take advantage of this opportunity to be teammates.''

That did not happen in 2006, to the long-running regret of Dustin Pedroia.