Next Blue Light Special: A-Rod?

With every hitless post-season at-bat, Alex Rodriguez comes closer to having a million dollar question answered.

Well, actually a $16 million-dollar question, as in how much of A-Rod's $16 million-a-year salary will Yankees owner George Steinbrenner be willing to eat in order to make the third baseman go away?

Now, most fans believe A-Rod could and would shore up most any lineup with sheer namepower alone. Bet Phillies fans would sell their souls to see the bat that produced 35 home runs and 121 RBIs this season nestled in behind Ryan Howard in batting order.

The perception sometimes kicks reality's butt. And the perception of A-Rod in the five boroughs of New York is that this player cannot protect a teammate in a lineup when he can't protect his own psyche from the yips. New York City is rough, but not that rough. Yet A-Rod's torment often has reduced him to a figure whose contitution seems no more sturdy than a wet noodle.

Steinbrenner could gag , eating all that crow and cash, but, really, will the Yankees have any choice but to move the game's version of Captain Queeg? The drumbeat among Yankees fans has already begun. A 1-for-11 start with four strikeouts assured that in the Yankees' first three games against the Detroit Tigers in the shock of an American League Division Series. So, too, did two Yankees' losses in the series' three games.

One more loss, one more early exit from a postseason they were supposed to dominate and the Yankees will likely not be merciful, expecially to the player fans in the Bronx never shy away from vilifying, anyway. So don't be surprised to see the Yankees concede the day and see if there is another easy touch, I mean team, willing to take on a Psychology 101 project.

Then the only question will be, how much will Steinbrenner pay to get A-Rod out of town? The bet here says that the amount the Boss will agree to swallow goes up exponentially with each failed October at-bat by A-Rod.

The Boss, of course, bit off a big chunk of lettuce when the Yankees acquired Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers in February 2002 return for Alfonso Soriano and a promise to absorb $112 million of the $179 million still owed on what was originally a 10-year, $252 million pact A-Rod signed with Texas in 2000.

That's an average of $16 million a year - $1 million more than the entire Florida Marlins team earned this season. And the Yankees will be funneling money A-Rod's way until 2025 - an IOU that likely won't go away easy, even should A-Rod wind up playing for another team.

Koufax to Cueller to ...Kuo? Oh, My!

Mets manager Willie Randolph was asked yesterday if he had yet announced his Games 3 and 4 starters for the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"No, not yet. Not yet."

Once upon a time such questions didn't even need to be asked. Then, again, once upon a time, teams in the postseason probably had starting rotations that went deeper than the obvious candidates for, well, Game 1.

That is no longer the case. Not when manager after manager got into the postseason only to find themselves with starting staffs still works in progress.

At least that's what you have to assume the playoff rotations were, looking at some of the pitchers toe-ing the mound during this, the most important games to date in their team's 2006 campaigns.

Blame it on injuries, youth movements or a general lack of depth throughout major-league pitching, but not one of the eight rotations toiling in the postseason will be confused with the Baltimore Orioles 1971 rotation members (pictured above) who entered the postseason with 20 or more victories each.

Jim Palmer-Dave McNally-Mike Cuellar-Pat Dobson?

Sandy Koufax-Don Drysdale-Claude Osteen-Don Sutton?

Greg Maddux-Tom Glavine-John Smoltz-Steve Avery?

Try these guys on for size: Tuesday, Boof Bonser, a rookie who spent part of the season in the minors and was 7-6 with a 4.22 ERA in the bigs this season, was sent to the mound by a Minnesota Twins team needing a victory to even their ALDS series against the Oakland A's.

Later that day, another rookie John Maine (6-5, 3.60), was the Mets' Game 1 starter, against L.A.

Today, St. Louis' starter in Game 2 of its NLDS clash with San Diego was Jeff Weaver - 3-10 (6.29) with the Angels, 5-4 (5.19) with the Cards (Weaver and four relievers, including three rookies, shut out the punchless Padres, 2-0).

And finally, last night the Dodgers, down 0-1 in the best of five series against New York, sent Hong-Chih Kuo - 1-5, 4.22 - to the mound. Kuo has one big-league victory to his name, it coming on Sept. 8 at Shea against the Mets in his first major-league start.

Kuo's mound opponent? Glavine, who's started almost as many postseason games (33) as Kuo has major-league appearances (38, counting the Game 2 start).

Minorities Top Endangered List. Again

What do these three men have in common?

Well, here goes:

Cito Gaston, Dusty Baker and Don Baylor (left to right) all took teams into the postseason.

Gaston managed two World Series teams in Toronto - and won both times. For those counting, that's one more world championship than won by Tony La Russa. One more than won by Hall of Famer Earl Weaver, as well. And it is the same number won by Tommy Lasorda, yet another Hall of Fame manager.

Baker - a three-time manager of the year, led the San Francisco Giants to the seventh and final game of the 2002 World Series before losing to the California Angels.

Baylor, in perhaps the greatest of these feats, took the expansion Colorado Rockies to the playoffs via a wild-card berth in the team's third year of existance - a major-league record for fastest advancement to postseason play by a new franchise. That garnered him manager of the year honors.

What these three men also have in common are these two things: Not one is currently is managing in the major leagues. And, as such, each is a member of baseball's most endangered species: minorities in managerial positions.

This wouldn't be such a sensitive subject were it not for the Black Monday witnessed in baseball this week. For Monday - the day following the end of the regular-season - saw all but two of the black or Hispanic managers who began the 2006 season ousted.

Frank Robinson, fired by the Washington Nationals.

Baker, fired by the Cubs.

Felipe Alou, fired by the San Francisco Giants.

Willie Randolph? The New York Mets skipper is baseball's last man - of color - standing.

Ozzie Guillen held on to his perch with the Chicago White Sox.

The ranks of Hispanic managers did grow when the Marlins replaced Joe Girardi with Fredi Gonzalez Monday.

Robinson and Alou, both 71, realistically won't put uniforms on, again. Both want to remain in baseball, however, and deserve opportunities to move into front office positions somewhere.

Baker, like Baylor, very much wants to manage again. Immediately.

Still, if baseball trends hold to form, Baker, like most minorities, will go to the "back of the bus," figuratively speaking, despite being a three-time manager of the year. After all, who would are deny that the revolving door through which displaced managers return to the ranks of the employed just flatout spins more slowly men of color than it does others?

Slower, as in galacial. Or, in the case of, say, Gaston, Baylor and Jerry Manuel - another one-time manager of the year who never got another shot - not at all.

Gaston, unlike many a manager with not one World Series ring, was never invited to skipper manage another team after being fired by the Blue Jays in 1997.

Jimy Williams, the man Gaston replaced in Toronto in the 1989 season, has been hired twice by teams since Gaston was fired. Williams has yet to reach the World Series.

Meanwhile, names of former managers like Lou Piniella, Bob Brenly and, alas, Girardi are already said to be hot candidates in places like San Francisco, Chicago, Washington and Texas. For those keeping score, only Piniella has won a Series ring as manager.

Where's the justice? Where's the outrage? Commissioner Selig? Anyone in authority?

At least, where's the buzz? Something to suggest that some or all of these very qualified veteran managers are being considered anywhere that currently has bench jobs to fill? For if they have no hope of breaking back into this exclusive club, what will the game tell the hopefuls named Cecil Cooper, Terry Pendleton, etc.? Wait your turn, because there's room for only one at at time in the pipeline, again?

Time to step up, baseball. Make sure the hiring processes in Washington, Texas, Chicago, San Francisco and anywhere else a position may open up are truly fair. These men don't want guarantees, just opportunities to compete. Then they'll be happy to let their records, accomplishments and talents speak for themselves.

Glavine, Aging Like a Fine Wine

.Apparently it can be as easy as rolling out of bed.

At least for Tom Glavine.

The two-time Cy Young award winner the Phillies could have had four years ago if not out-bid by the New York Mets made his first post-season appearance since 2002 a thing of beauty tonight.

Glavine, starting Game 2 of the National League Division Series against Los Angeles, threw six innings of shutout ball at the baffled Dodgers.

Glavine, killing them softly with smarts and stealth, allowed only four hits - all but one of those singles. he walked two, and struck out two, a performance precise enough to hold off L.A. And when Mets closer Billy Wagner sealed the deal with a scoreless ninth, Glavine and the Mets had a 4-1 victory and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

"He's been doing that to hitters for a long time," Grady Little, the Dodgers manager, said of Glavine, owner of 290 regular-season victories. "This guy's an outstanding pitcher and a lof of hitters talk to themselves after they face him three or four times."

"He was superb, as usual," said Mets manager Willie Randolph. "He's a big-money pitcher, a big-game pitcher."

The Mets certainly welcomed the uneventful save by Wagner - his second. Wagner? He welcomed lessons taught by his friend. "It's frustrating," Wagner laughed, "because he does make it look that easy. I've never seen him when he's not poised."

Wagner, an admittedly an excitable type, marveled at Glavine, who showed a fellow vet something invaluable even on a shared ride into the stadium before the game. For it was Glavine who was both talkative and exciting, wild, said Wagner, "because I'm usually the blabbermouth.

"It was calming to see a vet really excited coming in," added Wagner. "And it makes me feel good because I don't feel like I'm the only person sitting there ready to puke. It to see him calm himself down and go out and pitch a great baseball game.

"It takes me back to when I watched him when I was growing up," Wagner added with a laugh.

For Glavine, his 33rd playoff start - and first as something other than an Atlanta Brave - produced a 13th win.

The 40-year-old lefthander who signed a free-agent contract with the Mets before the 2003 season, is now 4-3 in division series games, 5-9 in league championship series and 4-3 in World Series contests.

Glavine's post-season victory answered many questions. Yes, he could pick up his team with a healthy dose of veteran presence after the Mets had lost Pedro Martinez and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez to injuries on the eve of the postseason.

And yes, Glavine showed, he could continue a strong kick in which he'd won five of six September decisions to complete a 15-7 regular-season. That campaign proved to be Glavine's best since 2002, when he was 18-11 in his final season in Atlanta. It was quite an accomplishment considering that just before Glavine's impressive stretch run, the pitcher received the scare of his career when coldness in his left finger led to the discovery of blood clots.

Medicine rather than surgery took care of the ailment, then Glavine - "the lefthanded Greg Maddux," teammate David Wright declared - took care of business from September on.

As special as the season was, the playoff victory was all that and more, said Glavine, becaue "I've waited a while to do it, gone through some tough times here in New York, personally. It's the kind of thing you try and persevere and find yourself in position which I obviously wanted to be in when I came to New York."

So all things, big and small, will be savored, Glavine promised, including Randolph's "Big game, Tommy salute" before a national media contingent in the post-game news conference (That means a lot to me.")

But, Glavine, as business-like as a Wall Street exec, reminded, "it's a lot less about what I have or haven't done in my career in the postseason and much more about now."

Because he did in the here-and-now everything his resume suggested he could, Glavine and the Mets are one win away from the League Championship Series. And Glavine is one argument closer to sealing his all-but airtight case for a plaque in Cooperstown.

Redemption, Detroit Tigers-style

Yes, the Detroit Tigers are young, almost devoid of postseason experience and certainly never to be confused with the Forbes 500-caliber millionaires employed by George Steinbrenner.

But, the freshman team vs. the varsity?

That certainly was the perception on the eve of the American League Division Series between the wild-card winning Tigers and the league's winningest team in the AL East champion Yankees.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland even joked about it - often enough to suggest that the constant references to a mismatch had become an issue, and a cause, among the Detroit contingent at Yankee Stadium the last few days.

Well, Detroit stunned one-half of baseball-mad New York into silence today when it evened the series at 1 game apiece. The Tigers did so, thanks to superb pitching by some of those inexperienced kids, most notably starter and rookie of the year candidate Justin Verlander (5 2/3 innings, three runs) and 100-mph, flamethrowing reliever Joel "Zoom-by-ya" Zumaya (1 1/2 innings, three strikeouts).

With the win in his pocket and egg on the face of some of the Tigers' harsher New York critics, Leyland started to show how much the chiding had registered.

"I'm sure we haven't convinced everybody, but I hope in my heart that everybody realizes that we are a playoff team. I hope that we at least proved that today. To do what we did with those kids pitching and the way we played the game, I hope at least everybody believes that we're worthy of being in the playoffs."

Wagner On the High Wire. Again.

It wasn't pretty but Billy Wagner put the first save of his postseason career in the books.

Brought in to a game led, 6-4 by the Mets in the ninth inning today at Shea Stadium, Wagner immediately gave up a leadoff double to the Dodgers' Wilson Betimit. The ex-Philles fireman then got pinchhitter Olmedo Saenz on a fly ball and Rafael Furcal on a swinging third strike.

The angst in Flushing jumped a notch moments later, though, when Wagner allowed an RBI double to another pinchhitter, Ramon Martinez.

Wagner ended the drama one batter later, however, when he struck out the dangerous Nomar Garciaparra, swinging, to end the game.

"You know, that's the life of a closer," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "He's gone live on the edge a lot of times, but he's had a phenomenal year for us. It's nice to see him get the save for us."

Randolph also put credit where it was due. The Dodgers know that Wagner will always come at you, the manager said, "and they put some good swings on him."

Then there was the backdrop, with the always noisy she really rocking with anticipation of the Mets' first postseason victory since 2000.

"The music was [so] loud, almost deafening," Randolph said. "He gets into it. He feeds off his adrenalin. He's always that kind of guy who gets pumped in those situations. The key for him I to just kind of channel it."

Wagner eventually did just that, then, in a calm afterglow of the game, dissected his interesting trip to the save.

"You want to go out there, want to throw strikes and make them beat you," Wagner said, "but I threw a few festival's to bedmate that got away and he hit it a ton. At first I thought it was a popup, but the ball was carrying out to right ..."

Wagner then settled down, he said, "kind of collected himself. You just have to go out and make pitches. you can't worry about one run scoring, you can't worry about any of those little things. You have to go out there and get three outs before they get two runs."

He achieved that goal by setting up Garciaparra with a fastball, away - "the best pitch that inning," said Wagner. "Somehow he fouled it off, but it set him up for a slider, and the slider had tonight was the best I've had in a while."

"I thought he threw the ball really well," said Randolph. "Just made a couple pitches up in the zone where they drove the ball to right-center field. But he was able to get through it."

Major League, Take One

With apologies to Ron Howard and Tim Robbins, the two big-time movie directors who were in the house at Shea Stadium today, Hollywood had nothing on the Mets.

Not when a Shawn Green-to-Jose Valentin-to-Paul Lo Duca relay resulted in two Dodgers - two - being thrown out at home plate on the same play!

"I have never seen that before, other than Major League, The Movie," said Lo Duca, the former Dodgers catcher.

The Mets' 6-5 victory over L.A. in Game 1 of their National League Division Series was the final result of a long day's play. But the double play at the plate in a wacky postseason first was what brought the house down.

Lo Duca was the prime hero on the play, because of his double duty. After Russell Martin's single was brought back into the catcher on throws by Green and Valentin, Lo Duca tagged the lead runner, Jeff Kent, as he tried to score from second by sliding through the back-door.

Lo Duca then pirouetted in time to tag J.D. Drew - no Willie Mays Hayes, he - trying to slide in through the front door.

"That was crazy," said Green, who started a great play by adroitly fielding the ball hit off the wall in right, then making a pinpoint throw to Valentin. "I was kind of shocked when I threw the ball in. Valentin made a great relay. And I all of a sudden I saw the two guys going. I was just hoping Dukey saw them."

Lo Duca more felt the presence of Drew than saw him. After he tagged Kent, he was out of position, what with his back to the field. The catcher then said it was something in the way home plate umpire John Hirschbeck was looking past him that made him spin around just in time to get the diving Drew.

Lo Duca later realized his teammates had tried to warn him. "[John] Maine and David Wright were screaming at the top of their lungs, but I didn't hear either one of them," Lo Duca said.

"I was backing up," Maine, the pitcher, said. "I saw the relay coming in. I was like, OK, they got this guy. Then I was yelling at Lo Duca, 'Turn around! There's a guy right behind you!"

The play was so bizarre, it actually left ex-Phillies closer Billy Wagner speechless.

"It was really one of those unbelievable things," he said. "You really don't know what to think because you've never seen that happen. I haven't."

The Dodgers' reaction?

"We've been in L.A. all season; we certainly know about traffic jams. We had one there," Dodgers manager Grady Little said.

No Time to Lead With Your Heart

Mets manager Willie Randolph dearly wanted to get a victory for John Maine.

After all, the starter had done what had become routine all season - step into the breach for an injured front-line pitcher, this time fallen ace Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez (calf injury).

And Maine acquitted himself well enough early on in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yet Randolph pulled Maine out of a 2-1 game the Mets led with two on and one out in the top of the fifth.

"I wanted to get six out of him, and definitely more than four. ... I wanted to hang in there a little bit with him," said Randolph. "But I always manage with my gut, and do what is right for the team.

"So when this guy over here [on his left shoulder] says, 'hey, it's good for his morale to get a win and he's really stepped up for you a lot,' then this other little knucklehead over here [pointing to his right shoulder] says 'hey, man, go by what you see and what you feel."

And what he felt was, Maine was done, having hit a familiar wall about the third time through the Dodgers' lineup.

So began the march of the relievers out of a well-rested bullpen. Pedro Feliciano (strikeout of Kenny Lofton) and Chad Bradford (Nomar Garciaparra groundout) ended the fifth.

L.A. would get three back in the seventh off of Guillermo Mota, tying it at 4. One more would come in against closer Billy Wagner in the ninth, but it was never enough to steal the lead, or the game eventually won by Mets' bullpen committee, 6-5.

Gold Standard, and Still Going Strong

Vin Scully, in his 57th season as an announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers, returned to New York yesterday. And once, again, all the Hall of Famer needed do was speak to remind what national treasures both he and his golden pipes are.

Scully's presence makes the postseason complete. What better forum for one who's graced the booth not only during 18 no-hitters, but seven Dodger World Series?

Scully transcends time. He can paint the present-day game as eloquently as any voice on the air. And he can take you back, as he did yesterday when discussing the legendary 1951 playoff game between Brooklyn Dodgers' Ralph Branca and the New York Giants' Bobby Thomson.

Bedside reading prompted Scully's memories. He's currently devouring Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thompson, Ralph Branca, and the Shot Heard Round the World, a new book by Joshua Prager.

"I knew those guys," said Scully of all the writers whose works Prager quoted.

Scully knows the story, too. He lived it that day Thomson's walkoff home run gave the game the moment forever known as The Shot Heard Round the World.

Yesterday he relived it as if it were, well, yesterday. And he described the outfield fence peephole where the Giants allegedly inserted a telescope to read opposition catchers' signals, the supporting players, from the electrician allegedly who rigged the crude, battery-operated relay signal system, you were there.

That's magic. That's Vin Scully.

A-Plus for Abreu In Game 1

They were but two of the Yankees' 14 hits, but few were bigger. So it was no wonder that Bobby Abreu could rightfully consider his first postseason game since 1997 nothing short of perfect.

The former Phillies all-star rightfielder showed a national TV audience why he's earned nothing but admiration from the Yankees since he arrived in a July 30.

Abreu went 2-for-5 and ignited a 5-run third inning with a two-run double, breaking up what had been a scoreless duel between Detroit's Nate Robertson and the Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang.

Abreu then used a two-run single in the sixth to add breathing room to what had become a 5-3 game. The Yankees never looked back, winning, 8-4.

"The last two [were] great because any time the other team starts scoring runs, the momentum slips over there," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He got it back to where it was comfortable for us."

Speaking of comfortable ...

"The team made me feel good over here," Abreu said. "After we clinched, I was so happy, going to October. just going to play in October. I came herr to New York and played my first game in the postseason - it's amazing.

"The New York Yankees - it's a very powerful name and you have to do whatever you have to do to represent that."

Jeter: One for the Ages

You cannot quantify the immense value, just appreciate it.

A decade after Derek Jeter began his historic postseason run with four hits in the 1996 American League division opener against Baltimore, he threw a 5-for-5 performance at the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the ALDS.

That performance, the lynchpin of an 8-4 Yankees' victory, tied a big-league record for hits in a postseason game, held by six. It also added to an undeniable legend, this quintessential performance by the quintessential clutch player.

For Jeter used two doubles, a home run and two singles to extend his own major-league records of most career postseason hits (147) and most DLS hits (64).

Jeter's big night came on the heels of a regular-season in which Jeter hit .345 during what was his fifth 200-hit season (another major-league record, for shortstops). It established once more that who the most valuable Yankee of 2006 is, and underscored the strong argument Jeter made for AL Mvp.

What pushes this special player to such a zone once October arrives?

"I think somewhat personality and his competitive drive," said Joe Torre, who, in 11 years, has reached the postseason every single season in large part because of the guy at shortstop. "You know, it's like this time of year, big games, whether we play Boston or games that are significant; not that he slacks off the other times. Look, he hit .340 this year.

"I guess the only way you characterize it for me, he doesn't go up there thinking negatively. He just doesn't. Failing doesn't scare him."

"You know, you're not always going to come through," said Jeter. "There's been plenty of times that I haven't. But when I'm in that situation, I feel as though I'm going to produce, or come up with a hit, or make a play."

He did tonight, turing a crucial doubleplay before the scoring started, then topping his offensive run with a crowd-pleasing eighth-inning homer.

It is these kinds of performances, and that special makeup that allows Jeter to continually put a damper on any contention that Alex Rodriguez is the best shortstop not playing the position for the Yankees. ARod might have the most talent stuffed in his body. All Derek Jeter does is win.

So, like the Ted Williams-Joe DiMaggio "who's best" debates of old, do you take the best athlete or the guy who just flatout finds a way to win? In the Jeter-ARod tug-of-war, there's no question which player wins.

Another thing: ESPN The Magazine was pretty provocative this week when its cover featured the Mets' Jose Reyes with a headline declaring the dazzling performer the best shortstop in New York.

Well, Reyes has got Jeter in terms of age. Jeter, though, long ago established himself as one for the ages. Reyes will have to wait for such accolades, at least until he can compare one World Series ring to Jeter's four.

Hurt's So Good

The Chicago White Sox threw Frank Thomas away like so much dirty laundry, much the way baseball threw away The Big Hurt's era when it ratcheted up its home-run love affair and turned its fancy to the chemically-induced.

Well, the two-time American League Mvp who was cast aside and demonized in his final days in Chicago, is finally is enjoying the last laugh, and new life with the Oakland A's.

The big man - and he's always been that, even before doctors and juicers pumped the biceps full of steroids - started his first playoff series in xx years by hitting two home runs off Minnesota Twins ace Johan Santana yesterday.

Because he did, the Oakland A's won the first game of an American League Division Series, on the road, 3-2.

Talk about dividends.

All the A's had guaranteed Thomas only $500,000 and a chance. He cashed in on both, using 39 home runs, 144 RBI and a bucketful of incentive clauses to gather in $3.1 million this season.

The man who once vied with Ken Griffey Jr. for title of most feared slugger in baseball - before Barry Bonds and Big Mac - healthy and happy, again, had restored his self-worth, and place in the game.

Now comes the gravy.

So, for those keeping score at home, it's Thomas 1, bloated home run kings 0.

And the White Sox? Not even in the game. Alas, they're home, watching the postseason on TV.

Now that hurts.

John Maine - and Pray for Rain?

Games were played, but the biggest news of the day had to be what happened in the Mets' off-day workout.

Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - the would-be Game 1 starter today against the Dodgers - strained his right calf. The injury further muddied the pitching outlook for the National League's winningest team, which already must forge ahead after having lost Pedro Martinez.

That pitcher had shoulder surgery and is gone for eight months.

Already there has been speculation about whether Martinez's shoulder trouble resulted from his overcompensating for leg injuries in the second half of the season.

That will make the Mets' handling of El Duque (11-11, 4.66) all the more scrutinized, considering cautionary tales about pitchers hurting themselves all the more by allowing leg injuries to mess with arm delivery dates back to Dizzy Dean.

Before the Mets determine Hernandez's immediate future, they must concern themselves with their own. Should Hernandez miss his start against the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, his replacement likely won't be Steve Trachsel (15-8, 4.97), who had to leave the team over the weekend for personal reasons.

So that future could now rest with John Maine (6-5, 3.60) - not exactly the hand the Mets envisioned holding the Game 1 mound against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Or their playoff aspirations, for that matter.

But Seriously, The Tigers Will Show Up

The American League Division Series between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees hadn't even started and already the guys not called baseball's greatest team had to answer the question:

Why even bother to show up?

Well, Jim Leyland?

Well, I told everybody, they have got Murderers' Row and then Cano. That's not a good feeling," the Tigers manager said, tongue-in-cheek, hours before Game 1 at Yankee Stadium.

But seriously, folks. ...

"I think a lot of people, for whatever reason, they have this as the Yankee varsity versus the scrimmage and freshman team. I don't feel that way.

"I always let my feelings be known, so I'm going to tell all of you: Those that said we lucked out and snuck in, I totally disagree with that. We won more games than only three teams in baseball. That's pretty good."

Piazza Thriving Under The Radar

Shhh!
Mike Piazza, Hall of Fame shoo-in, all-time catching great, has a little secret.
For the first time in his storied major-league career, the onetime marquee player of the mega-market Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets spent a season practically off the grid.
Moved to San Diego. Mellowed out. Went all Left Coast and low-key - and absolutely loved it.
"My whole career, I've had a big job and never shied away from it," said Phoenixville High's most celebrated baseball product. "I always enjoyed being the go-to guy. But this year it's been about being a pseudo-everyday player, and also a role player, and a mentor, working with young kids.
"And, you know what? It's been fun to play this way, to play under the radar."
As he spoke, a grin creased the face of baseball's all-time leader in home runs among catchers (398). And it illustrated just how happy the 38-year-old is to be where he is and who he is.
Who he is: a vital part of a Padres team that won the National League West. Where he is: in the NL division series opener today at home against the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals.
As Piazza spoke, he did so with the precocious air of a schoolboy, which is understandable since no matter where this postseason takes him, the 14-year vet will go not as an afterthought.
"He's done a great job with the staff and helped stabilize it," said Padres manager Bruce Bochy. "He gives us a veteran presence back there. Our pitchers have confidence throwing to him."
Value has come at the plate as well as behind it. Though 28-year-old Josh Bard (50 starts) and 25-year-old Rob Bowen (eight) were key backups, it was the old man who started 99 games and hit 22 of the troika's 34 home runs and accounted for 68 of its 121 RBIs. Piazza had not achieved such totals since 2002, when he hit 33 homers and drove in 98 runs for the Mets.
Piazza's home runs this season ranked second among National League catchers, after Atlanta's Brian McCann (24). On the Padres, he trailed only Adrian Gonzalez's 24, a number compiled in 156 games compared to Piazza's 126.
"Twenty-some home runs?" said pitcher David Wells. "His bat is huge."
What a difference a year makes. Last season, back East, questions about whether Piazza could still be the go-to guy became irrelevant. How to get him to just go away became more pertinent as baseball-crazed New York increasingly fixated on Piazza's age, injuries and eroding defensive and offensive capabilities.
The end of what had been a long love affair with a legend was poignant and, at times, painful. Remember the mercifully short-lived attempt to convert Piazza into a first baseman?
Piazza, bright, sensitive, accepted the inevitable. "I wanted to finish my career in New York; I loved the tradition, I loved the fans," Piazza said. "But it just didn't seem like it was going to work out. And I didn't want to be a burden."
Thrown onto the free-agent market, Piazza had his suitors, including the team he grew up watching from his father's field box at Veterans Stadium.
"The Phillies definitely showed interest, and it was definitely an option," Piazza said, "but at the end of the day, with [Mike] Lieberthal there, well, an $8 million catcher is not going to sit.
"I wasn't looking to be a starter, or a guarantee of games, but at that time there was just so much more flexibility in San Diego. Even Pat [Gillick, the Phillies' general manager] said maybe that would be the best option."
San Diego did have its selling points. Weather - 72 and sunny every day - the slew of quality pitchers, a talented roster. Then there was a sincerity as the Padres convinced Piazza they would treat him as a valued commodity.
"You don't want guarantees, but you do want a little bit of a blueprint of how you would fit in," the catcher said. "And it just felt right. There was just an energy there. It became more of a spiritual decision than a mechanical one."
The job was not full-time, but that comes with age, Wells said.
"As a veteran, you know when you are winding down, when you're going to face limited playing time," the pitcher said. "So when people ask: Is his arm as strong? The answer is simple. No one's is when you get older.
"So, you come out for defensive purposes. Your backups take some of the pressure off."
Still, make no mistake, said Wells. "Mike's definitely an impact player. It's all about winning and compiling knowledge, and he's done that. So we need him back there, because he's still that strong a presence."

Abreu Advances Where Phillies Cannot

NEW YORK - Bobby Abreu, gone but never to be forgotten, will forever be the itch Phillies fans cannot scratch.

The former Phillies rightfielder is headed for his first fully realized postseason, but not with the organization that groomed him into being an all-star.

Abreu may finally get his first sip of championship bubbly. But not with the franchise for which he wound up ranked in the top 10 in, among many categories, career extra-base hits, stolen bases, RBIs, runs scored and slugging percentage.

The team that traded him to the New York Yankees on July 30 fell just short of winning the National League wild-card berth.

"That's a tough one," Abreu said Saturday after learning that the Phillies had been eliminated on the next-to-last day of the regular season.

"I know those guys; they play hard. They go for it every day. And for this to be the second time it happened in a row, to get this close, then get eliminated, it's tough."

In a perfect world, Abreu believed, both he and the Phillies would have advanced and - who knows? - restaged the 1950 World Series.

Since that won't happen, he gladly will live with the alternative - returning to the playoffs for the first time since his rookie season in 1997, when he went 0 for 3 for Houston in the National League division series.

"Yeah," he said with a smile, "when they made the trade, they told me it was an opportunity for me to be in the playoffs. So I will take it."

And Phillies fans? Learning that the player they couldn't win with proved to be the player they also could not win without just provided another slice of unappetizing reality to chew on.

Especially since the 32-year-old Abreu turned out to be the last multimillion-dollar piece of the puzzle for the Yankees. Call it overkill, but he was the addition the well-heeled American League team apparently thought it needed to secure a tie for the majors' best regular-season record. And it worked.

Yet from the day Abreu was swapped along with pitcher Cory Lidle for four minor-leaguers, the Phillies appeared more than capable of living with the consequences. After all, they too enjoyed a rebirth after general manager Pat Gillick's series of trade-deadline moves transformed the team into a younger, swifter, more defensively sound version of its former self.

But the Phillies turned out to be wanting at the plate and on the mound just often enough to miss the postseason by a hair. Again.

For some, the reasons for failure 80 miles south of New York likely will include the player who so pleased yet puzzled fans before leaving Philadelphia.

"But," cautioned Larry Bowa, ex-Phillies manager-turned-Yankees third-base coach, "Bobby is not the reason the Phillies don't win.

"I was there with him for four years, and we came in second place three of the four - and it sure wasn't Bobby Abreu's fault."

Where does the fault fall on Pattison Avenue?

You know Bowa has his theories.

"The season is 162 games, and you have to have an attitude - from day one of spring training till the end - an attitude that never goes away," he said. "You don't just wait until August and say it's time to click it in. And it happened to me, too, but there's no way that team should have been under .500 earlier in the year."

Phillies obituaries aside, Abreu obviously changed the Yankees for the better. The question is, did the Phillies' only 30-30 man and one of its most prolific home-run hitters (197) change, too?

"Not at all," Bowa contended. "And his making the postseason is great because of the perception of him that he doesn't care. He does care."

Without a doubt, Abreu excelled, hitting .330 in 209 at-bats in 58 games with the Bombers, with seven home runs, 37 runs scored and 42 RBIs.

"He's done everything; I mean he's fit in perfectly," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. "He flat-out plays - can hit, can steal bases, has been playing good defense, has a strong arm that has been shutting down a lot of teams."

Pretty much like the blueprint Philadelphia originally saw in the veteran who wound up batting .277 with eight homers, 61 runs scored and 65 RBIs in his final 98 Phillies games. The player who left behind vocal fans among his former teammates.

"I wish him the best," said pitcher and longtime Abreu teammate Randy Wolf. "I am excited for him. I am happy about what he brought to that team. I like the way he's been taken in by the Yankees fans. He's done a great job. I hope he gets himself a ring."

Said Pat Burrell: "Good for him, man. Good for him. Ultimately, [the postseason] is what you play for. I know it was hard for him to leave here, but he got the opportunity to move on and he got into a situation where he had a chance to help that team."

Abreu perennially was asked to carry Phillies teams off the field as well as on; he just didn't have the kind of personality to convince people that he could. Again, Bowa said, that should not be an indictable offense.

"He just doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve," Bowa said. "That doesn't mean he don't care. Mike Schmidt didn't wear his emotions on his sleeve, either. He cared."

Now it doesn't matter whether Philadelphia believes that or not. The languid Venezuelan with the ever-present, often-inscrutable Mona Lisa smile is about to enjoy the last laugh.

"I am right where I want to be, in the playoffs, and happy about it," said Abreu, his smile devoid of mystery at last.

Frank Robby: A Class Act Closes

Frank Robinson with former National League president Len Coleman

WASHINGTON - After 51 years in the game, Frank Robinson likely spent his last day in a major-league uniform yesterday.

But before the Hall of Fame player and owner of 1,065 managerial victories oversaw his final Washington Nationals game as skipper, Robinson had some news for the game he loves:

"I am not retiring," the 71-year-old said as the hearty Fan Appreciation Day crowd at antiquated RFK Stadium roared. "There are a lot of things I'd still like to accomplish, for others who come after me."

Robinson - unstoppable offensive force as a player, social pioneer and advocate for equal opportunity at the management level - had done what he promised.

He refused to take his cue from the Montreal Expos-turned-Nationals organization that decided not to bring him back for a sixth season as manager. Instead, he continued to look ahead, even after a 6-2 loss to the visiting New York Mets brought his Nationals tenure to a close.

"I still feel I have something to offer, and to give to baseball," Robinson said. "If that's not the case, then I can very easily fade into the sunset... . But for anyone to understand what I'm saying, you've had to be around the game a long time. It gets in your blood."

Following a game filled with many curtain calls and a postgame victory lap from dugout to dugout, Robinson could only describe himself as "numb." It was a stark contrast to the earlier news conference when one of baseball's most noted competitors dabbed away tears and chastised himself for weeping. ("I said I wasn't going to do this.")

He would choke up again when asked to speak to the crowd after a pregame video salute highlighting his playing and managerial careers.

Once at the mike, though, the silver-haired skipper, clad in Washington Nationals red - his eighth different big-league uniform - enthralled the fans with his humor, poignant reflection, pride and passion.

The crowd of 29,044 showered Robinson, his wife, Barbara, and daughter Nichelle with wave after wave of cheers.

It spoke to the indelible impression made by Robinson in the Delmarva area when he was the heart and soul of the great Baltimore Orioles teams of the late 1960s, following 10 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.

Baltimore fans were very much in evidence yesterday, cheering every reference to their American League franchise and the man still considered both legend and family.

Only Henry Aaron, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa hit more than Robinson's 586 home runs. Only Robinson can claim an MVP award in each league.

Though Robinson yesterday declined to give his opinion on what his legacy is, all he needed do was look across the field to Mets manager Willie Randolph and Mets general manager Omar Minaya to see.

When he played, Robinson started battering away at barriers that once prevented minorities from advancing to coaching staffs, managers' offices and front offices. He finally became the game's first black manager.

His proteges have been many, including Don Baylor and Dusty Baker, who followed his path to winning manager of the year awares.

Now, Randolph is a viable candidate for that same honor after leading his Mets to the National League East crown and the league's best record. And Minaya, a native of the Dominican Republic, is a strong candidate for executive of the year.

Minaya aptly called Frank Robinson the "Jackie Robinson of managers."

"Sitting in his office the other day, Frank told me, 'Here, I'm handing you the baton.' It blew me away," Randolph said.

Randolph wasn't the only one blown away.

After Robinson addressed the crowd, the visiting Mets, led by veterans Julio Franco and Carlos Delgado, Randolph and his coaches, beat the Nationals to the punch by streaming to home plate to hug the Hall of Famer, one by one.

"I've never seen that, not to that extent," Robinson said. "And I've been in baseball 51 years. That was a very nice gesture on their part. It truly was."

Tomorrow, Robinson will return to his California home. The man who wound up with over 1,000 managerial victories has said "goodbye."

But remember his words, and his worth.

The game can top today's tribute by assuring Robinson is right. Find a place somewhere in the game for a man who very much wants to contribute more. History says he's pretty good at following through and baseball would be foolish to turn away from this valued, honorable man for good.

Bowa: Now Here's How You Win

In Larry Bowa's mind, the Phillies and most other teams will never be confused with the Yankees, and not just because of the billion-dollar payroll wielded without apology by the Bronx Bombers.

That attitude Bowa says the Phillies lack permeated the winningest team in baseball, by design, Bowa learned in this, his first season in New York.

"It's not an issue of if you get to the playoffs, but it's 'you'd better get to the playoffs" around here," Bowa, the Yankees' third base coach, said. "That's the goal, and it's non-stop here. Anything can happen once you get to the postseason, but in the speeches from Joe Torre and the front office in spring training were, 'we expect to play when it's cold out.'

"In my situation, a lot of times I was told, you can't be that competitive. You put too much pressure on people, which I think is hogwash."

Bowa believes true leaders can take the cues to win, no matter how aggressive and relentless the message.

Again, he points to the Yankees clubhouse, where Pressure is always spelled with a capital P.

It's amazing, the leaders here. When [Gary] Sheffield puts on the uniform, the way he plays, ARod, Moose Mussina, [Johnny] Damon. I mean, I could go all up and down the lineup. I don't want to leave anybody out. But when your leaders do it, obviously it makes everything easier for the staff and the front office, for everyone."

Money doesn't assure that, Bowa knows. Lots of bloated payrolls fell way short of the promised land this final week of the regular season. Not the Yankees, some of whom wouldn't recognize October if it didn't contain a playoff series or two.

"Look, a season is a grind. It takes a special person to grind it out, from the first day of spring training until the end," said Bowa. Look, a season is a grind. It takes a special person to grind it out, from the first day of spring training until the end.

"We had two guys go down in Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui - and you're talking 50, 60 home runs and 250 RBIs between them. And the kids filled in.
we had two guys go down in Sheffield and Hideki Matsui - and you're talking 50, 60 home runs and 250 RBIs between them. And the kids filled in."

Kids like Melky Cabrera and Robinson Canoe, the No. 9 hitter who threatened to win a batting title going into the last day of the season.

"When you get players who grind it out and never let up, it makes a difference. When you get a group of them it's something special," said Bowa. "Most teams don't have groups of them."

The Yankees seldom don't, a case of the rich not only getting richer, but picking right when it comes time to choose the pick of the big-league all-star litters.

Phils: 20-20 Won't Be Kind

It won't take long for the good feelings about the Phillies' season to give way to a harsher reality.

Forget late-night rain delays and the residual fatigue. Forget questionable calls by umpires. The bottom line is that, in a weakened National League, the Phillies could have, should have won the wild-card berth. In their hearts they have to know that. They had everything, including an easier schedule in terms of opponents' winning percentage, the final two weeks of the season, compared to the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Thing is, Ryan Howard could not pull the train alone in the end. Nor could Jimmy Rollins, nor Chase Utley, who revived his bat in the final week, but will be left to wonder what if after a slump ruined most of his September stretch drive.

In the end, the Phillies won't escape their own self-examination or those always willing to critique. Like former Phils manager Larry Bowa.

"The season is 162 games and you have to have an attitude - from Day 1 of spring training 'til the end - an attitude that never goes away," Bowa said in dissecting the Phillies on Saturday, the day the team was elminated from wild-card contention. "You don't just wait until August and say it's time to click it in. And it happened to me, too, but there's no way that team should have been under .500 earlier in the year."

Multitasking in the Midwest

Tonight, the confluence of baseball pennant races, the Internet, the ethernet and the television networks made for a perfect multitasking scene for baseball fans in St. Louis.

As the Cardinals were finishing off the Padres in the top of the ninth inning last night to snap a seven-game losing streak, their celebratory but still-anxious fans sitting in front of the press box at Busch Stadium kept alternating their cheers with quick peeks over their shoulders.

What were they watching to the rear? The press-box TV monitors, half of which were tuned into the Astros-Pirates game being beamed by ESPN from Pittsburgh, where the 'Stros were trying to win an eighth straight game. Do that and the heat would remain on St. Louis, who'd seen Houston pull to within 1 1/2 games of their NL Central lead.

While that drama was unfolding in front and back of the Cards fans, another was playing out in the press box. For the visiting writers from San Diego were tracking the Dodgers' game in Colorado with the help of an XM-radio feed and other Internet outlets.

Why? The Padres came into the game in St. Louis needing a combination of four wins/Dodgers losses to clinch the NL West.

Meanwhile this writer, too, was tracking the Dodgers-Rockies via the ESPN Gamecast graphics on the Internet - while listening to the Phillies' game against the Nationals in Washington, D.C., via the MLB.com Gameday online audio feed. Why? Another inextricable link across the miles, as the Dodgers attempted to maintain their one-game lead over the Phightens' in the NL wildcard race.

The final results: the Cards, Dodgers won early, while Houston and the Phillies played late into the night before winning, too, in 15 and 14 innings, respectively.

Winners, all, to be sure. But the ultimate victors, though, had to be any thoroughly wired fan, and 21st century technology.

Talk about a global village, wireless and electrifying all at once.