Burnett started four games that season before undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in late April. He spent the next six months rehabilitating while watching his teammates become champions. He was at Yankee Stadium for the final game of the season but felt awkward joining in the celebration.

Now, six years later, Burnett has a chance to get a ring he would be proud to wear.

The 32-year-old righthander is scheduled to start Game 2 of the World Series against the Phillies tonight.

In a refreshing change from the usual athlete-speak, Burnett said he would not treat it like any other game.

“I’m looking forward to it,’’ he said. “I’m excited. I’m going to prepare as if it’s another game, but deep down I know what it’s about. I know how real it is, and I don’t want to change it. I want to go out there knowing it’s my first World Series start.’’

Burnett was 13-9 with a 4.04 ERA this season, his first with the Yankees. There were weeks when he was one of the best starters in baseball and others when he was the worst.

The postseason has been a continuation of that. Burnett has a 4.42 ERA in three starts, putting 30 runners on base in 18 1/3 innings. But the Yankees won two of those games.

Burnett took a loss against the Phillies May 22, giving up five runs in six innings. Jimmy Rollins hit the first pitch of the game for a home run. Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz also homered.

On playing at Yankee Stadium: “In some ways, I might be at times the most influential player that ever stepped in Yankee Stadium. I can honestly say that . . . It’s all just being fans. I have all the respect in the world for the way they enjoy being fans. Sometimes they might be giving you the middle finger, just like they will be cursing you and telling you what color underwear you’re wearing.’’

On the media: “None of you have probably ever eaten steak with me or rice and beans with me to understand what the man is about. You might say the player, the competitor, but the man? You guys have abused my name. You guys have said so many things; have written so many things.

“The way people perceive me in New York, I don’t know if they got to know me a little bit better after I got to the Mets. It’s totally different than the way I am; I just compete. And yes, I will do whatever it takes to beat you. But I’m a human being after I take my clothes off. A lot of people can witness that any time, anywhere, any moment.’’

Martinez acknowledged for the first time that his shoulder was “barking’’ before Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS against the Yankees. That game featured a brawl between the teams that included Martinez tangling with Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer.

“It was something that we have to let go kind of, and forget about it, because it was a disgrace for baseball,’’ Martinez said. “Even though it wasn’t my fault, I was involved in it, and it’s one of the moments that I don’t like to see. I don’t like to see it because I’m not a violent man.’’

Odierno is a Yankees employee who lost his left arm during the war in Iraq five years ago. Odierno’s father is General Raymond Odierno, the commanding general of the Multi-National Force in Iraq.

Major League Baseball dedicated the game to returning war veterans. Obama and Biden visited patients at the spinal cord injury unit at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the Bronx before the game.