-Well, lots happening the last couple of days. Of course, the biggest news was Mike Piazza’s return to Shea as a member of the Padres Tuesday night. The popular catcher got a well deserved warm reception from the fans and also was given a nice five minute video tribute which played some of the highlights of his eight-year career with the Amazin’s. Cheered loudly throughout the big night which saw him finish with one single in four trips, the seven-time Mets All Star who led the team to two postseason appearances including the 2000 World Series was clearly taken back by how he was treated:

“I can’t really explain how honored I am because you just don’t see that a lot in sports today.“

And really, that’s all he needed to say to sum up how special it was to receive such great treatment from an organization he helped turn around when the Mets truly were going nowhere. For as bad as things became in the catcher’s final couple of years, they were even worse before he arrived here from Florida on May 22, 1998 for a package which included Preston Wilson. Before Piazza came, the Amazin’s were a baseball laughingstock with almost no direction. Then he arrived and turned New York into a two team baseball town again. It was fun to watch the former Dodger star take his rips in what was a pitcher’s park. He never got cheated and even matched his most homers in a season with 40 in his first full year in 1999. For four straight seasons, he slugged 33-or-more dingers and was the dominant offense force behind the plate that electrified crowds. Of course, it ended last year when the Mets moved on and traded for another former Dodger who played with Florida in Paul Lo Duca.

Meanwhile, the 37 year-old has moved back to the West coast with the Padres, who are in a tight battle for the NL West with the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. He might not be as productive as before but he still leads all major league backstops in home runs with 18, including two more in Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to his former club before nearly 50,000. Even when his team lost, Piazza became the story by ripping two solo homers off Pedro Martinez to make things close and even turn some cheers to boos. Ah. A typical New York crowd. It doesn’t matter what stadium it is or the sport. As soon as you do too much as the opponent, they start to turn on you. It might not be fair but that’s just the way it is here. After connecting in two consecutive at bats, he nearly had number three in what would’ve gone down as storybook. With two runners on and down two runs, he came up just short against Mets reliever Aaron Heilman taking him to the warning track before Carlos Beltran hauled it in. It left Piazza to compare it to the time he made the final out in the 2000 World Series against Yankee closer Mariano Rivera:

“This stadium is so unforgiving if you don’t get everything into it, and that was a prime example…It was a similar at bat.“

That gives Piazza three homers in five games against his ex-team. Not bad. There’s still one more game to go later today. Maybe he can propel the Padres to a much needed win.

-It was the fourth win in a row for the Mets. Jose Reyes had two hits, a stolen base and an RBI. Martinez pitched into the eighth inning giving up the two Piazza blasts to improve to 9-4. But the news wasn’t all good. As usual, closer Billy Wagner made things interesting in the ninth by serving up a solo shot to Josh Barfield which cut it to one. But he pitched around it for his 26th save in 31 tries. That’s Wagner in a nutshell. He’ll make things interesting but usually gets the job done. Can’t wait for October.

-Of course, the other Mets news once again surrounded around the divorcing Lo Duca. Once again, the New York Post broke a front page story about the current catcher’s alleged affair with a 19 year-old teenager from Long Island named Krista Guterman. Here’s a pic of her:

We certainly can see what he saw in her. The two supposedly met back in April at a Long Island bar called, “18 And Over Night.” Apparently, the 34 year-old NL All Star was particularly fond of the tall brunette who was home from college. They exchanged numbers and shortly after began dating. Of their relationship, Guterman had this to say:

“He’s a fun guy. He has a good personality,” Guterman said. “We’re good friends. We still talk a lot on the phone.”

Of course, none of this means much since he was supposedly in the process of separating from wife Sonia. So she was 15 years younger. Big freaking deal. This kind of stuff can happen. It’s not like she wasn’t legal. Is it smart to get caught redhanded when you’re a big star in a crazy media fascinated town like our’s? Probably not. But sometimes, you can’t control what you do or how you feel. There are far too many hypocrites in today’s society who just plain don’t get it. Sometimes, you might cross paths with someone and like them. If it’s mutual, neither party is thinking about age. In a place where there’s a 28-year age gap between a man who is married to a celebrity can cheat with a similar teen who was even younger, what’s wrong with what Lo Duca did? Nothing. It’s just the usual cynics and critics having nothing else better to do. Like their lives are so perfect? We doubt it. Go take a walk in the park and breathe a little air. It might do you some world of good.

-It’s always interesting when Mariano Rivera blows a save as was the case in Tuesday’s tough 6-5 11 inning loss at the defending champion White Sox. How would he bounceback from giving up a tying Paul Konerko opposite field blast? For six innings, that question shouldn’t have had to been answered. But when Randy Johnson lost his no-hitter in the seventh and seemingly tired, suddenly the Yankee closer looked like he might be needed. Indeed, he was thanks to Kyle Farnsworth’s ineffective eighth in which he gave up two homers to cut a Yankee lead which was once 7-0 to 7-6. Rivera was called on to get the final four outs. It wasn’t easy in the ninth but he worked around first and third to get Jim Thome to ground out to Robinson Cano for a force at second to notch his 29th save. It overshadowed what was a great first six innings for Johnson who shut us up. Before the game, I was certain he’d get smacked around by the White Sox tough righty lineup which includes Konerko, Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede. Instead, the Big Unit outpitched Jon Garland by a country mile to pickup his 12th win. He also K’d five after going two consecutive outings without one. Kudos to the five-time Cy Young winner for giving the Yanks a solid performance.

-The best news has to be Cano. Since returning from the DL after being sidelined over a month due to a hamstring injury, the All Star second baseman is a sizzling 5-for-9 with three extra base hits including his first homer since returning off Garland last night. The scary aspect is he’s just back. You can’t say the Yankees expected this. What makes it even better is most nights he’ll be batting seventh. Would you want to be an opposing pitcher against this New York lineup now? Bobby Abreu also had a big night with three RBI’s including his first HR as a Yankee to end the longest drought of his career at 163 at bats.

-Amazingly, the Bronx Bombers got some more good news when Boston rookie closer Jonathan Papelbon blew his fifth save by allowing two runs to the Royals, who actually took their second straight from Boston to push them three behind the Yanks. Yes, you read right. Hard to believe. The 25 year-old Papelbon also blew his last save opportunity against Tampa Bay a couple of days ago but he came in the eighth for that one due to the rest of Boston’s awful pen. The only decent setup guy they have is vet Mike Timlin and he’s not what he used to be. St. John’s rookie and former 2005 first round pick Craig Hansen has struggled thus far, making it tougher for the Red Sox to protect leads. Plus when most of your staff can’t go more than six, it puts even more pressure on the Sox’ weakest area. Maybe they really are in trouble. Of course, they’re still without team captain Jason Varitek even though they added Javy Lopez for a song from Baltimore. Johnny Damon’s center replacement Coco Crisp hasn’t had the kind of impact they believed. And Josh Beckett hasn’t been lights out. Rookie Jon Lester has pitched about as well as expected as has ace Curt Schilling. But when you’re relying on the washed up David Wells, you know you’re desperate. Of course, it doesn’t help that Tim Wakefield and Matt Clement are out. Wakefield in particular could really help now. Clement is nothing special even if Daily News columnist Mike Lupica wants to portray who the Sox lost compared to the Yankees. The Yanks lost three All Stars in their lineup. Boston lost maybe one decent starter out of their rotation. Big difference. What would you expect from that fool? He still probably thinks the Mets are better than the Tigers.
-The bad news is the usual. Manager Joe Torre had to go to his best in a game he shouldn’t have had to. After Ron Villone got out of a bases loaded no out jam in the seventh to limit the damage to two runs, couldn’t Torre have given Farnsworth the night off? Was it coincidence that his velocity was down and location was way up? Even Rivera wasn’t himself. Maybe let Villone start the eighth and bring in Sidney Ponson. There’s still not enough trust. There are some nights where you want to avoid using your best. The only salvation is that Scott Proctor actually didn’t pitch. So he should be fresh for the rubber match of the series later today.

-In other news, American cyclist Floyd Landis continues to proclaim his innocence regarding the two positive tests for high testosterone level which would strip him of winning the Tour de France. Now, he “might’ve ingested something while training,” according to a recent interview with The Tonight Show’s Jay Leno. Could he just give it up already? Stop touring America begging for forgiveness. I’m sick of seeing this guy on every big station. First ESPN. Now NBC. Enough’s enough. He’d be a lot better off just going into the background for now and letting this cool down. It’s awful PR. Who’s advising him? Rafael Palmeiro?!?!?!?!?!

-Jeremy Shockey was not a happy Giant at training camp Tuesday. He told the Post’s Paul Schwartz that these camps were a “debacle” and added that the two-a-day sessions were just a way for players to get hurt. In many ways, the mild mannered tight end is right. Most football players today come into camp in much better shape than the old days, which the former Miami Hurricane insists they were setup for. Here were his best comments in the interesting piece:

“This whole debacle, this training camp was designed back in the day for players who weren’t in shape, to get in shape. Now they have the offseason program, you’re in shape already and it’s dangerous…They always try to tell people to stay off the ground but they always try to tell people ‘Up the pace, up the pace.’ When you up the pace, someone’s going to get hurt, that’s just the nature of the sport.“

Of course, he’s got a valid point. Football is a brutal physical sport. Often in these practices, there are players trying to impress going all out against proven stars. That’s where some of these injuries can take place. Plus when you factor in the summer heat which recently was severe enough to bring back memories of former Viking Korey Stringer, coaches have to make sure they don’t work their guys too hard. That’s how cramping and dehydration can take place. It’s also how hamstrings and groins can become loose. It doesn’t take much. I have always felt that there’s way too much emphasis put on camps and even preseason. To me, it seems that there are too many instances where a key player can go down, causing possible damage to a team’s season. This isn’t like other sports. The NFL is only 16 weeks long. Nobody wants to see its best players suffer a season-ending injury during a meaningless practice or exhibition game. That’s why I hope in the future, they consider shortening it up.

-Meanwhile in Jets camp, speculation continues to surround Jets All Pro Curtis Martin on whether or not the veteran running back is done due to bad knee. He is trying to return from arthroscopic knee surgery which was performed seven months ago. It would be sad if his brilliant NFL career ended like this. But that’s now what was on another comebacking Jet Chad Pennington’s mind when he spoke to the Post’s Evan Grossman:

“We know what Curtis means to our organization. There’s no secret what he’s meant to our team, especially to me, as a person. All the things I’ve been through in the last three years, he’s been a solid rock for me to lean upon.“

Well put. Martin is a guy you root for. He’s as likeable a professional athlete as you’ll find. Ditto for Pennington. The Jets really need both back just to be competitive this year.

-In other football news, troubled ex-Ohio State star back Maurice Clarett was arrested yet again. The details are too ridiculous to discuss. Courtesy of an AP article here are some of the off the wall lowlights:

When police ran into Maurice Clarett this time, officers said he was driving erratically and carrying an arsenal that included three semi-automatic handguns and an AK-47-type assault rifle in the front seat — all loaded.
A highway chase ensued, then ended in the early hours Wednesday when police spiked the former Ohio State star running back’s tires. Even then, officers said they could not easily subdue him because the bullet-proof vest he was wearing thwarted their stun guns.

It took several police and pepper spray to get the 6-foot, 245-pounder into handcuffs. The struggle continued as he kicked at the doors of the transport vehicle that took him away.

That’s about as low as it gets. This guy is nothing more than a thug who thinks he can get away with anything because he was an athlete. The sad part is that he now has a baby daughter that was born premature last month. Way to be responsible. How much you want to bet he’ll wind up dead in five years?

-In NBA news, the Knicks landed their “impact free agent” Jared Jeffries after the Wizards declined to match the five-year $30 million offersheet he inked. Knicks GM/Coach Isiah Thomas says he’s versatile. More like overpaid.

-Make me take Oliver Stone’s Hollywood version of “World Trade Center” seriously. It hasn’t been long enough for a movie of this magnitude to come out. I don’t care how much money they reimbursed the surviving NYPD officers on that tragic day. 9/11 is still very fresh in every New Yorker’s mind. The five-year anniversary is a month away. They should’ve left it alone. You will never get me to watch a movie like that. Along with many others, I witnessed the damage to the Twin Towers from a Bayonne Light Rail parking lot. It was the most scary think I’ve ever seen. Why do they need to reenact it this soon? Sometimes, I really despise Hollywood.

-Tell ya something else. Whenever I hear or see those WTC commercials about needing a new one, I get emotional thinking about it. Damn right they need to build a new one already. Stop letting other detractors halt construction. There’s too much crookedness involved. It’s not sacred anymore. Everytime I cover a Staten Island Yankee game in St. George by the Ferry Terminal across from the city, I look at that empty space during the national anthem and “God Bless America” and feel just as empty. That is a sad reminder of what took place. It should still be there is all I ever think. I feel very strongly about it. There was so much meaning. This isn’t about who’s right or wrong. It’s about the impact the loss had on so many innocent people. The politicians need to get on the same page here and do the right thing. This is New York City and we need a new World Trade Center. It’s time!!!!!