Cameron Diaz is playing it smart with Alex Rodriguez — keeping a low profile and fitting in with the Yankee wives at CC Sabathia‘s birthday bash.
Diaz, who’s gone to great lengths to avoid being pictured with A-Rod, bonded with Yankee women, including Laura Posada and Nick Swisher‘s actress fiancée, Joanna Garcia, at Jay-Z‘s 40/40 club Sunday. Diaz even asked to be introduced to legend Reggie Jackson, now a team adviser who works closely with A-Rod.
A happy Sabathia was spotted downing shots with Jay-Z and greeting teammates Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mark
Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Phil Hughes and Andy Pettitte — who made it despite his groin injury.
A source told us, “Cameron doesn’t cling to A-Rod like Kate Hudson, whose front-row antics didn’t go down well with the wives. Cameron kept it low-key and hung with the girls. She and Alex stayed on opposite sides of the room but they kept glancing and smiling. He didn’t look at another girl.”
The pair — described by Sabathia’s wife, Amber, as a “cute couple” — later escaped through a back door and headed to a West Side heliport.
Amber, who’s about to give birth to their fourth child, planned the lavish $150,000 bash for 400 guests, with an open bar awash with Ace of Spades champagne, dancers with pythons and a three-foot alligator in a tank — which sparked a minor panic as it tried to escape its keeper. Spies said one snake terrified Jeter, “who jumped a mile as soon as he saw it,” while A-Rod and Giants star Brandon Jacobs refused to touch it.
Meanwhile, Beyoncé fueled pregnancy rumors by avoiding alcohol. Teixeira stuck close to his pregnant wife, Leigh, while champagne-swigging Joba Chamberlain was surrounded by admirers before leaving at 2:30 a.m. with a leggy brunette.