Mike Cameron said he had trouble getting to Fenway Park, but fans are hoping he won't be lost in center field. (AP)

Mike Cameron dropped by to chat with The Big Show on Wednesday at Fenway Park about the new center fielder’s first impressions of putting on the home whites. Much was made of the debate centering on Jacoby Ellsbury or Cameron in center and the new acquisition said he could play another position, but center is where he wants to be.

“I could play some other positions also, but I still have a window that I still can go out and play the game in center,” he said. “Maybe I’m not as fast as I was when I was 21, 22 years old. At the same time, I still feel like I can play. I feel better. Some days feel better than others, and the day I feel really, really good I start to cheat a little bit more. The days I don’t feel as good I just kind of back up a little bit.”

Cameron also touched on the secret wind veils that make playing center at Fenway so unique, his relationship with Terry Francona, what it’s like to be back in the American League and his initial struggles to find his way around the Fenway area.

Following is a transcript. To listen to the interview, click here.

What’s your experience so far in center field at Fenway Park?

No different then the past experiences out there. I’m starting to learn the wind veils out there, something that nobody discussed with me when I was on the other team.

There are secret wind veils?

If you look at the right thing.

In the press box with all the hot air?

That’s one of the interesting things is one of the wind veils is on top of the press box.

You may have been brought in for defense but you and Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro have helped stabilize the bottom of the lineup.

The one thing about it is as baseball players we don’t look a the description of how a team is designed. We are brought here to do a job and just be productive and you look at the past and me, Beltre and Scutaro have all been thought of as defensive players or great whatever you want to call it. But at the same time this game the No. 1 thing is pitching and if you have solid defense and pitching you are going to have a really good chance. You add the other element of is when you have an explosive offense or whatever you want to call it now you are looking at a championship caliber ball club. As a player you don’t really look at those things, you just play. I’m a baseball player. I try to be good on defense or base stealing. Sometimes I may not hit very well but you try and be a good hitter as much as possible.

How has Terry Francona changed since you first met him when you first entered the league?

When you go and be the manager for Philadelphia and then you go to Oakland have the opportunity to be a bench coach. Also to sit in the stands and be an advanced scout and then become the manager of the Boston Red Sox and go through some really great seasons here, probably two of the best seasons that people are going to remember here by winning championships. Sometimes there are shortcomings, but to be able to keep this unit together under this type of situation … He’s always been calm and collected but looking at it from your manager as a player under these type of baseball capabilities and playing in the New England atmosphere it’s always a calming sense to have a manager like that. He’s always joking too. I’ve known that him ever since I was 18 so it’s always a calming factor for myself.

How have you been able to maintain yourself as a good defender late into your 30s?

It’s just a blessing. I’ve just been one of those guys. In the past Steve Finley was one of those guys who could do it for a long time. Kenny Lofton was one of those guys and Devon White was one of those guys too. I could play some other positions also, but I still have a window that I still can go out and play the game in center. Maybe I’m not as fast as I was when I was 21, 22 years old. At the same time I still feel like I can play. I feel better. Some days feel better than others, and the day I feel really, really good I start to cheat a little bit more. The days I don’t feel as good I just kind of back up a little bit.

Do you do things differently now than you were in the past when you might have had more speed?

Most definitely. When you go through something I went through before, having a really bad incident, you play the game a little bit different. I still play balls to the wall. I still have to be really considerate of what I can and cant do on the field now. I would rather play 145 games then play in 100 or 99, by being a little bit smarter on the field. Now it takes me a little bit more time to kind of get ready. So I have to go get ready before I go to practice, so that’s probably the most important thing to remember that that’s part of the routine now.

Has Jacoby Ellsbury sat you down to talk about center field at all?

We have been doing it all spring. Pretty much throughout the course of the season we are going to do a lot more. He’s still going to play some center this year, because I don’t think they are going to let me play everyday, but I would love to. I want to go over there and play around with the wall a little bit too, to kind of get a feel of it.

Have you done some practicing over there yet?

I’ve been going over there a little bit in practice to go get a feel for it. Even though I’ve played it so many times for some reason I feel like I’m at home now and I have to know what’s what. The game itself will dictate how you go about doing those things and that’s one thing we talk. When the ball is going to left field I have to be very cognizant of going over there all the time, when I used to stand over and watch a little bit.

Have you been able to travel in Boston without any problems?

I had none of that. The 8 p.m. game kind of helped with it being Easter Sunday. It was a very big help, but I think I took this route a couple times. I’ve made it a couple of times on this route in my mind, but my car did a good job. Once I got around here I did circle around the stadium a couple times, and I didn’t think I could turn on Lansdowne Street because it looks like there was a big block party because it was blocked off. So I couldn’t get in there when I wanted to, so I had to call into the guys in the clubhouse and find out what was good and find out what I could and couldn’t do.

Thank God for GPS.

Definitely. I got a straight shot on Route 9 all the way out, so I’m good.

Did you get a sense of the difference between most series and a Red Sox vs. Yankees series?

There’s a lot more media people. This is my first series as a Red Sox, so I do know that there is a lot more people coming from New York than there would be if it was Kansas City or Minnesota. It’s well expected. I’ve played against both and now I get a chance to play in it. As much hype as it is I really don’t want to have it go through my mind because that’s just going to add much more pressure on it. I just want to get comfortable playing at home for the Red Sox. I just want to go out and play as best I can and just beat up on the Yankees. I have no interest in the whole rivalry thing. I’m just trying to play as well as I can for the Boston Red Sox and if it just happens to be the Yankees then they just happen to be on the list.

Dough Mientkiewicz said the best rivalry is White Sox vs. Twins.

I guess for the last few years you would think that. I played in the Windy City Classic and I’ve played in the Subway Series but this is crazy. It’s kind of subdued a little bit from what I’d seen on TV, but there has a ruckus in the stands as far as I can tell.

Did you notice the umpires tried to pick up the pace of the game last night?

They couldn’t do it though. They can’t do it. Everyone has a routine they go through. Some guys are going to see balls. Some guys are going to swing, but the game seems like it’s forever. If I was in Milwaukee last year the game would have been two hours before. It’s a four-hour game and you got to get in the feel of it. I’m enjoying it, though. More so than anything, this is my opportunity to enjoy the game with the focus on playing really good baseball for the Boston Red Sox. But I’ve got to enjoy this. It’s only going to happen one time, so I’m going to enjoy it.

Mariano Rivera just isn’t going to go away, is he?

That was the one thing about it he was throwing that cutter 96 (mph) and it was running across the plate. Last night he threw me one cutter under my hands and I was like, “OK. Here comes the cutter again. I’m going to open up and be ready for it.” It comes in and it’s sinking a little bit and I was like, “Where did that come from.” A lot of learning for me is through relievers, so I kind of have pick my spots and kind of ambush somebody, because as much as I haven’t seen these guys at the same time I have to be very cognizant of what the guys feature pitches are. I’m sure they know a lot about me, but knowing a lot about someone and facing someone is totally different. That was my first time facing Joba [Chamberlain] the other night. That kind of amped me up a little bit the other night. He’s been the guy who is fist pumping. I thought they were going to walk J.D. [Drew] last night with me being the new guy here, but that was my bad thinking. I did get a chance to see Mariano though.

Do you have to change anything to fit the philosophy here in Boston?

I just try to be better. The times I get strikeouts is when I’m not being aggressive from the beginning or sometimes like last night I went out of the zone against A.J. [Burnett] and I really didn’t have to. I kind of got caught up in the fastball thing and he’s slinging it everywhere and I’m just swinging at it. I just need to stay within myself more than anything and when I find myself doing that I find myself having better at-bats, much more quality at-bats and just having the comfort level to go out and do it. They have a couple of guys here that take 1,000 pitches. Sometimes I get in that mode, too. It just depends how I’m feeling. But for the most part it’s really about getting comfortable and playing the game I’m comfortable playing. I can slash it and minimize a lot of strikeouts just by staying in there and having that aggressive mindset. I had [Dave Magadan] in ’06 in San Diego, so he’s told me the same things, to get out of your own way and go play the game.