Former Pirates general manager Syd Thrift dies  —  BALTIMORE — Syd Thrift, a former general manger of the Pittsburgh Pirates who spent nearly a half century in baseball, died at 77.  —  He underwent knee replacement surgery Monday in Milford, Del., and died that night, said the Baltimore Orioles, one of many teams he worked for.

Sheffield aims for this week  —  TORONTO - How real is the possibility of Gary Sheffield playing first base for the Yankees in a playoff game?  —  "If we feel confident that he can play the position, I don't envision that being a problem," Joe Torre said.  "But we need to see something to tell us that."

Towers: 'These guys don't miss (Mirabelli)'  —  LOS ANGELES - Doug Mirabelli won't be getting a Christmas card from Padres General Manager Kevin Towers, but maybe he should.  —  The cranky catcher who was traded to Boston on May 1 after a .182 April is one of the central characters of the Padres' season.

On the One Hand, There May Be a Problem at Shea  —  WHEN is losing good for business?  When the Mets are on the verge of clinching their first division title since 1988 and their fans buy tickets hoping to be at the game when they do.  —  The Mets sold more than 10,000 extra tickets …

Tigers need to recapture early season mojo  —  CHICAGO - Jim Leyland will need to turn into Gene Mauch for the Tigers to blow this sucker now.  —  It's not going to happen.  It was never going to happen.  The Tigers still could finish second in the AL Central, but their 8-2 victory …

Wallace Matthews  —  Randolph paid plenty of dues  —  You need more than a MetroCard to complete the journey Willie Randolph made last year, from the Tilden Houses in Brownsville to the manager's office at Shea Stadium, and a manager needs more than a blank checkbook from his boss …

Mailbag: Will Young be leaving?  —  Beat reporter T.R. Sulivan answers fans' questions … Did the "out of context" comment owner Tom Hicks made about Michael Young "not being a captain of the team type" start a battle that may ultimately end with Young leaving Texas in 2008?

A-Rod Agonistes  —  Despite his extraordinary numbers, New York fans are quick to discount his contributions.  And when things go wrong for A-Rod, even his teammates find him hard to motivate and harder to understand  —  "Joe wants to see you."  —  Alex Rodriguez still was weak …

Mailbag: Can Soriano go 50-50?  —  Beat writer Bill Ladson answers National fans' questions … What do you think of Alfonso Soriano's chances of being the first player to hit 45 homers and swipe 45 bases or even become a 50-50 guy in baseball history?  — Avi R., Montreal

Prospectus Hit List  —  Team  —  Overall W-L  —  Week W-L  —  Hit List Factor  —  Trend  —  Despite dropping three out of four to the Red Sox in back-to-back doubleheaders, the Yanks finish the week with the majors' best record, and their magic number to clinch the AL East for the ninth straight time now stands at four.

Cards fall in 9th  —  MILWAUKEE — Sifting through the rubble of a ninth-inning loss, the Cardinals were left to ponder an intriguing question: Can Anthony Reyes pitch for this team in October?  —  The 82-loss Milwaukee Brewers took care of the details Monday when second baseman Tony Graffanino ended …

Trachsel saves best for last  —  Steve Trachsel wishes he would've walked slower.  He wished he would've soaked up the applause from the standing ovation he received in the seventh inning last night, as much as his T-shirt was soaking up the champagne that his teammates had doused all over him a short while later.