… burn all your remaining Yankee clothing.”

A short questionnaire for Yankees fans seeking admission to the Red Sox fan club.

In 1976, MLB player Rick Monday made one of the greatest plays ever. He still gets letters every week from fans about it.

Breathe.
Relax.
Aim.
Squeeze.

There’s no substitute for practice.

I am remiss in pointing out that my undergraduate alma mater, Wake Forest University (#15, 10-2 regular season), won the ACC football championship last weekend and will compete in the Orange Bowl against #5 Louisville. It’ll be a tough fight for either team to win. Louisville has the second-ranked offense in college football, averaging 477 yards and 39 points per game. Wake, on the other hand, allowed fewer than 15 average points per game. The Deacs also forced 21 turnovers in the last eight games of the season and finished the season ranked first in red zone defense. The game will be played at 8 p.m. EST, Jan. 2.

That’s what Mark English says Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has really been saying with all the talk about firing Manager Joe Torre.

Commissioner Bud Selig has put down the curtain on making any clubhouse changes during the playoffs so that fans remain focused on the playoffs. …

Suppose however, [Steinbrenner] was willing to play within the rules. If that is the case, then all this talk about Torre being fired could just be a publicity stunt to limit the coverage of the New York Mets as they prepare to play in the NLCS. Is this so far fetched? Not really. He’s done it before.

In 1988, he fired Lou Piniella (whom ironically could be hired to replace Torre)…and hired Dallas Green shortly before the Mets were set to play in the NLCS against the Dodgers. This set off a media storm which temporarily distracted the press from the Mets, and focused their attention onto the Yankees.

Also, from the Boss’s perspective it makes more sense to keep Torre on for at least one more year, since his contract is up next year anyway. Then next year, Torre can ride off into the sunset, while the Yankees look to move into a new direction.

Either way, the Boss has managed to dominate the back pages, even while his team could not dominate the Detroit Tigers.

And that makes a lot more sense than anything else I’ve heard or read about the Yankees saga. Especially since today Joe Torre announced he would not be leaving the club.

Some really good sports coverage over at Mark’s blog, American Legends.

Truth in posting: I am a secret Yankees fan while always cheering for my number one team, the Atlanta Braves. Alas, neither did much good this season.

Thye topic is baseball. Have you ever seen a double play at home plate? Neither had I until this afternoon. It’s the Mets v. the Dodgers in NLDS game 1.

Sorry, I don’t follow either team so I don’t know players’ names. But what happened is this:

Update: Now that news reports have hit (10/5) I’ve deleted my original text and inserted the Daily News account:

Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca tagged out two runners at home plate on the same play in the second inning of yesterday’s 6-5 series-opening victory at Shea.

“It was a bizarre play and it was a very good sign for us early in the game,” LoDuca said. “It was one of those I’d like to see again, because I’m still not sure exactly what happened.”

Don’t worry, this replay will make its away around highlight reels for years. Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew had opened the top of the second with singles against John Maine. Russell Martin followed with a liner to deep right that caromed off the base of the wall.

Kent had tagged up at second to see if the ball would be caught, and Drew correctly had gone slightly more than halfway up the line between first and second.

Kent said he turned and yelled to Drew “let’s go” when he saw the ball drop, thinking both runners could score. But Green made a perfect throw to relay man Jose Valentin, who wheeled a hurled another strike to Lo Duca.

“I turned and saw Kent tagging and knew we had a chance to get him,” Valentin said. “Then J.D. came in right behind him. I couldn’t believe we got them both.”

After Lo Duca applied the tag to nab the headfirst-sliding Kent, he couldn’t hear Maine, David Wright and Carlos Delgado screaming at him to turn around.

Lo Duca said he was tipped off that another runner was oncoming by the eyes of home-plate umpire John Hirshbeck.

“John didn’t make an emphatic out call on Kent probably because he saw Drew coming, too,” Lo Duca said. “As soon as I spun around, he was right there. Wild play. Huge play.”

Double play at home plate. Now, that’s unusual, to say the least. In fact, the last time it happened was in 1985 “when Yankees’ Bobby Meacham and Dale Berra were tagged out by Carlton Fisk.” When I find it on YouTube I’ll embed it here.

Will NFL player Albert Haynesworth go to jail for this?

By now every pro football fan in America knows that Tennessee Titans player Albert Haynesworth was ejected from the Titans’ thrubbing by the Cowboys Sunday. Haynesworth stomped on the bare forehead of Dallas player Andre Gurode, whose helmet had been knocked off during a play. Gurode suffered cuts on the forehead and below an eye that required 30 stitches.

But, in the sometimes screwy rules of the NFL, he wasn’t ejected for kicking Gurode, which drew only an “unsportsmanlike conduct” call. He was ejected for taking his helmet off on the field of play, a severe no-no in the rulebook. (However, there is a report that he was ejected for too-vigorously protesting the original call to a referee. Rumors abound.)

Yesterday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell delivered a stomp of his own on Haynesworth: a five-game suspension without pay. That’s three games longer than anyone has been suspended before.

How much will Albert lose in income? Again, reports conflict. Last night on ESPN’s Monday Night Football, an announcer said it would amount to $500,000. But Mickey Spagnola says it will amount to $190,000, still serious coin, to be sure.

Immediately after the game, Titans Coach Jeff Fisher told Dallas Coach Bill Parcells that he was “outraged at what happened” and promised that if the Commissioner didn’t render severe enough punishment, the Titans would. Apparently the League’s smackdown is deemed sufficient. “‘I believe that what the league has done right now is adequate,’ Fisher said” (link).

Nashville Titans fans were not defending Haynesworth; many told WKRN TV (ABC affiliate) that criminal action was justified. “If I did the same thing out on the street,” said one, “I’d be going to jail.”

It wasn’t just some fans who thought that way. During the halftime show of NBC Sports’ Sunday night football game, commentator Chris Collinsworth said that Haynesworth’s deed went beyond mere a rules violation. “This was not a personal foul,” he said, “it was a criminal act.” He added that Haynesworth should have been taken off the field in handcuffs. Spagnola reports further,

Should Gurode file criminal charges with the Nashville police[?] In fact, the suggestion has gone so far the Nashville Police Department already felt compelled to release a statement on the issue:

“In assault situations, an affirmative desire for prosecution and an acknowledgement of cooperation from the victim, in this case Gurode, are preferable before officers and prosecuting attorneys move forward with the development of a case.” …

Now there are some of the Cowboys players who believe what Haynesworth did should be subject to police action. Ferguson responded “definitely” when asked if Gurode should press charges. Cowboys quarterback Drew Bledsoe answered similarly.

Some didn’t want to touch the issue, including Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells, who said he appreciated Tennessee head coach Jeff Fisher’s apology after the game… .

Nashville’s Tennessean newspaper reports that Gurode’s agent says this issue is not closed.

Metro [Nashvile] Police contacted the Dallas Cowboys Monday afternoon to indicate they “stood ready to assist” offensive lineman Andre Gurode if he wanted to pursue criminal charges against Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth.

But through the team Gurode told Nashville police he didn’t want to file a complaint, Metro Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said.

Gurode’s agent, Kennard McGuire, said no such conclusion has been reached, however.

“That decision has not been made,” McGuire said. “I expect it will be in the coming days. I have not had the opportunity to fully speak with Andre and his family.”

I am guessing that the legal action that agent McGuire says is still possible is a civil suit rather than a criminal complaint.

The Titans stunk up the joint Sunday, losing 45-14, their worst loss since coming to Tennessee from Houston, Texas, in 1997, when they were still known as the Oilers. With an 0-4 record and poor morale even team members admit, this incident won’t help.

A longer Youtube segment from the beginning of the play is here.