-It’s been a busy few days. Been covering some S.I. Yanks games and putting together some U.S. Open tennis previews. We’ll have links for that later.

-In the mean time, we learned this weekend that no matter what the Yanks’ record is, they can’t deal with the Angels. Can you imagine if Mike Scioscia’s gritty ballclub found its way into October? I think the Yankees (the slumping A-Rod in particular) would just throw in the towel. Well, at least they salvaged the last game even if it was ugly enough to actually bring in Mariano Rivera to close out the Rally Monkey’s. Death to it! The victory wouldn’t have been possible without the Old Guard. Bernie Williams had himself a day. Spelling Melky Cabrera (first day off in forever), the elder statesman had four hits, two home runs and six RBI’s and got the kind of standing ovation in Anaheim that would’ve made you believe the game was in the Bronx. Yeah. Those California fans sure are diehard! And MVP candidate Derek Jeter had three hits including two homers. He’s now at .337, 12 HR and 81 RBI’s. Oh. If you’re wondering, Williams in a bench role now has a respectable .286 average with 11 dingers and 53 RBI’s. Ah. What one game can do for you. But still. That’s not bad production for a guy who’s supposedly on the way out. The offense was enough for an 11-8 win and made recent Columbus recall Jeff Karstens a winner. Where do they find these guys?
-If you’re wondering about A-Rod, so are we. He did have one hit in five plate appearances but K’d three more times to drop his average under .280. Not long ago during the Yanks’ five-game sweep of Boston, it looked like he would climb close to .300 and heat up. But since they left Fenway, he’s been dreadful. I think that’s now 11 or 12 K’s in the last four games. I haven’t been watching every at bat due to my coverage but I have gotten to see enough with the games being on the West Coast to know what the 2005 AL MVP’s problems are:

A.He looks very anxious. Almost like he’s putting too much pressure on himself. One key to being a good hitter is being relaxed. When you watch him at the plate these days, he’s anything but.

B.He’s pulling off the ball. It explains all the K’s. It looks like he’s trying to hit every ball out of the park. Instead of just using his natural power and going to all fields, he’s not and it’s resulting in a lot of failure.

Now, there’s been plenty of talk lately on WFAN (what else are they going to call about, that the Mets should’ve kept Lastings Milledge up when they have a better chance to win with Shawn Green) about it. Almost too much. Between where Joe Torre hits him and what’s wrong, it’s almost like every fan who calls up thinks they’re a therapist. On topic, if the embattled third base slugger is still seeing one, they’re not doing the job. None of us can get inside his head. Ultimately, this is a 31 year-old grown man who’s supposed to be a superstar. It’s up to him to start acting like it instead of looking baffled everytime he goes back to the dugout. If you’re the Yankees, you just hope he gets it fixed in time for that four-game series against the Red Sox.

-If you exclude the Yanks’ five-game destruction of the Sahhhhxxx last week, they’re 3-6 in the other three series against Baltimore, Seattle and Los Angeles. For more breakdown since their August 8th trip to Chicago:
Yanks vs Boston: 5-0

Yanks vs Others: 6-10

Kind of makes you wonder. If you’re a Boston fan, you’re probably screaming a few obscenities right now at the screen. Somehow in the last six games where they lost four of six out West, the Yanks remained 6.5 up because the Sox inexplicably were swept by those powerful Mariners.

-In the even more absurd world of the NL, the Giants have suddenly closed to one game under .500 and just 1.5 behind wild card-leader Cincinnati after taking three of four. You remember the Giants, right? The same team that looked dead two weeks ago but now has suddenly reeled off 11 of 14 and are just 3.5 off the NL West pace set by the Dodgers. Oh. And you’ll love this. The Marlins have now won seven straight and are three under and within three of those Reds much to my Chicago buddy John’s dismay. But according to him, they had no chance. Would you like to rethink that?

-On the wild card, if the Phillies somehow get in, Ryan Howard is the MVP. No questions asked. I still find it hard to believe that a second-year player can have the numbers he’s put up: 46 HR, 121 RBI’s. Scary.

-They may have been rained out today but the Mets’ Magic No. to clinch is 20 after another late comeback last night over the Phillies in which they batted around for seven runs in the seventh. (Sidenote: Have you ever seen a team blow more games than the Phils?) How can anyone deny how special this team is? It doesn’t seem to matter if Pedro or Tom Glavine aren’t on the mound or Cliff Floyd is still DLed. Or that David Wright has slumped badly (maybe that all knowing Daily News expert Mike Lupica put the curse on him). This team just wins. You can’t say that Willie Randolph doesn’t have anything to do with it. His ballclub is never out of a game. They play with such a cockiness. That btw is about the only similarity we see to 1986. Sometimes though, that kind of confidence is enough to push you over the top. I think it’s time to make the Mets the favorites to win the World Series. They should have a much easier path than any AL team. Forget the homefield. The Mets are good enough to win away from Shea. Not much fazes them. I guess it really depends on the health of Pedro, Glavine and El Duque and the nerve of Billy Wagner because they sure have the offensive horses to get there. I just see a team that’s good enough and thinks it should win. That’s all it usually takes. Belief is a big thing in sports.
-So the Tigers are fading quickly and now are no longer a lock to even win their own division. How quickly it changes. Has anyone done a better managing job than the Twins’ Ron Gardenhire? They lose Francisco Liriano and he has his team playing lights out and in the wild card lead- a half game better than the White Sox. Unbelievable.

-Here’s a new entry into the AL MVP talk: Justin Morneau- .319, 32 HR, 110 RBI’s

-Alfonso Soriano 40/40 Countdown: 4-for-5 Sunday with 2 SB’s

HR-41  SB-34 GR-32
Looks like he could make it. Poor Jim Bowden.

-Does any diehard football fan really care about how Eli Manning looked in a meaningless exhibition game against the Jets? I mean outside of ESPN where every one of his pass attempts will be overanalyzed by their panel of experts such as Sean Salisbury. I got a question. How can a scrub QB like him be considered an expert? Just thought we’d ask!

-Make me care about the Oscars or the freaking MTV Music Awards or any awards show.

-This just in: Cowboys fine TO $9,500 for all the missed practices and usual baggage this selfserving overdiscussed star brings. Ah. Exactly what Coach Parcells had in mind for the start to their first year together. Music to our ears!

-Willy Taveras has a 30-game hit streak. I’ll be honest. I wasn’t paying much attention. So I’m still wondering how this is possible. I know. It’s mean. But hey. What the heck?