Once again, life is good at Shea  —  After two rough weeks, nothing but good news for the Mets  —  NEW YORK — Willie Randolph has taught his first two Mets teams not to fret, not to sweat the small stuff — or the big stuff — if any of it is beyond their control.

A bad deal for Sox: Front office caught in a mess with trade for Lopez  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. - Now, somewhat astonishingly, this is not solely about the deals that Red Sox officials failed to make at the annual trading deadline.  It is also about a trade the Sox did make that has blown up in their face like a trick cigar.

That's just Manny and his hammies (And it's just Manny being omnisciently sourced)  —  Imagine you're married to a smoking hot chick.  (I say chick only because, judging from the comments and names of people who've registered on the site, it seems as if most of the blog's readers are men.

Rangers GM talks to his future free agents  —  GM begins early discussions with club's impending free agents  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - General manager Jon Daniels has begun talking with agents representing the club's impending free agents but said he doesn't want it to become a distraction in the clubhouse.

Squandered Opportunities Cost Yankees  —  Joe Torre did not say it to his players because he did not feel he had to.  Three thousand miles and one day removed from completing a five-game sweep of the Red Sox at Fenway Park, Torre expected his tired Yankee team to understand the sweep …

Girardi Doesn't Dodge Query On Hit Batters  —  Florida Marlins Manager Joe Girardi said Tuesday that he does not instruct his players to stay in the way of breaking pitches to get on base, an accusation levied by Washington Nationals Manager Frank Robinson following Monday night's 3-1 Florida victory.

Reds prepare grievance vs. Nats  —  Could take case to Bowden, or MLB, to settle matter  —  General manager Wayne Krivsky's standard answer about the Gary Majewski controversy lately has been: "We're having internal discussions."  —  But the Reds are doing more than simply talking.

Dodgers' Loss Is Out of Sight  —  Padres' Peavy shuts them down and San Diego continues its dominance in the series with a 1-0 victory that cuts lead to two games.  —  SAN DIEGO — Jake Peavy took a seat in the dugout, looked at the scoreboard and saw nothing.

Double standard  —  Sheffield gets free pass while A-Rod gets grilled  —  Let's get this straight: Alex Rodriguez gets ripped like Dean Martin at closing time for casually mentioning that he has played hurt this season — and those close to A-Rod say he weathered a nagging groin injury …

Being Julio Franco  —  Were this story to start with my stomach doing a loop-de-loop, it would not sufficiently explain how I tried to stifle the aging process, so let's instead begin with the two-pound omelet and work from there.  —  Every morning, Julio Franco takes 20 or so eggs …

Clinton visits Cards' clubhouse  —  NEW YORK — After telling a gathering of people at Shea Stadium on Tuesday how he listened to Cardinals baseball as a boy in Arkansas, former President Bill Clinton stopped in for a pregame clubhouse visit with manager Tony La Russa and the players.

In College Football, Big Paydays for Humiliation  —  The University at Buffalo football team went 1-10 last season and did not score a touchdown until the fourth game.  For nearly a decade, it has been considered one of the worst teams in college football.  —  Buffalo is just the kind …

Oy Vey, What a Game  —  One of 2 posts on Wednesday, with the other celebrating Julio Franco's 48th birthday, which can be found here...  http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2006/ 08/me-and-julio-down-by-ballyard.html&n bsp; —  Anyone know the Hebrew or Yiddish translation of Walk-Off Home Run?

Hacking Bernie  —  What About The Children (And Their Wallets)?  —  At first the idea sounds nuts, like barbecuing in the nude, or a Madonna concert.  But then when you think about it ... why shouldn't kids get paid for playing in the Little League World Series?

Their tools of ignominy  —  A baseball box score adds up as neatly as an accountant's ledger.  For every home run, walk or strikeout in a hitter's column, there is an accompanying mark for the pitcher.  For every winner, there is — as every Cubs fan knows — a loser.