That Cliff Lee guy is good, huh? It feels like Lee is now pretty good all the time, but for whatever reason has the capacity for ridiculous runs of dominance like the one in this postseason and his first seven starts of last season, when he went 6-0 with a 0.67 ERA.

Lost in the Yankees playing poorly last night was the Knicks playing poorly last night. Danilo Gallinari shot the crap out of the ball in the second half, though, so that’s a positive. I’m not convinced he’ll suck just because Knicks draft picks usually suck.

Stephen Colbert weighed in on the Higgs Boson and many the same things I discussed here.

Colbert gets a lot of respect, but probably not enough. What a stud.

Alex Nelson continues his amazing rundown of the Mets’ 2009 draftees.

A Philadelphia woman was arrested for offering sex in exchange for World Series tickets. Sometimes you don’t need a punchline.

Even though Doug Glanville roots for the Phillies, I generally enjoy reading his op-ed pieces in the Times. He comes off like a true, hardcore, nerdy baseball fan like myself, and one that just so happened to be  good enough to make the Major Leagues. It’s only when he actually starts breaking the game down and advocating Marlon Anderson that he gets a bit bothersome.

The Mets will won’t will won’t pursue John Lackey. This is going to be an especially frustrating year of hot-stove nonsense, I think.

Today is the day every paper in the country runs its position-by-position World Series breakdown and picks which player at each position gives his team the edge. I still don’t get it. The shortstop doesn’t ever face the other shortstop, right?

Today is apparently the day the local rags celebrate the age-old series preview “your city sucks” tradition, which means it’s the one day of the year when it’s excusable to purchase a copy of the New York Post. And boy am I glad I did. Not only did the Post’s front cover run this doctored photo of Shane Victorino in a skirt, but on the inside there was this handy tale-of-the-tape chart with an amazing entry for “Best Sandwich”:

Bravo, New York Post. Beyond the fact that I’m a little unclear on the physics of how a Derek Jeter sandwich on model bread would play out, I’m pretty certain that’s not the best sandwich available in the city because there are some wonderful Italian delis around. Still, I appreciate the Post’s effort here. Always pushing the limits of journalism.

And the Post doesn’t stop there! There’s also this article about the Phillie Phanatic, featuring what might be the Yankee-fan quote of the year:

“Mr. Met is even better than that — and Mr. Met is retarded,” said Patrick O’Neill, 22, of The Bronx.

I can’t speak for you guys, but I know that I have always wondered what Patrick O’Neill of The Bronx thinks about Mr. Met vis a vis the Phillie Phanatic. And big ups to Pat for being so definitive.

In non-baseball news, Charles Barkley says Donnie Walsh has made a poor decision. And say what you will about Barkley, the guy knows a thing or two about poor decisions.

Over at TheJetsBlog.com, Brian Bassett wonders (with due respect) if Leon Washington was going to be phased out of returning kicks anyway. I liked Washington a lot as a player, but I honestly don’t think he’s irreplaceable. He’s versatile, so it might take a few players to recoup his production, but with a good offensive line and scheme, runningbacks are frighteningly interchangeable. Ask Mike Shanahan.

Carlos Beltran has outlasted Steve Phillips. A rare victory for reason. Funny that Phillips was fired for dropping his pants when his worst offense was opening his mouth.

How did Reuters miss this hoax? Great investigative journalism by Bruce Watson, though I would have thought Abe Froman was a household name. Also, hilarious work by the American Mustache Institute again. What a wonderful gang of heroes. (Hat tip to my dad for the link.)

I’m with Cerrone here. This seems to be a hot topic among Mets fans right now, but I really just don’t see how anyone could root for the Phillies. Ever.

Leon Washington’s career could be over. Very sad.

Theo Epstein echoes your boy, me. Obviously I didn’t invent the idea, but it’s awesome to hear it from the mouth of an actual Major League GM.

Joe Janish gives a thorough rundown on Aroldis Chapman. The coolest thing about Chapman? He’s one of like 12 people who live in Andorra. I’ve always been fascinated by the tiny European nations. Chapman should help his country blow by Lichtenstein in their annual rivalry game*.

*- Note: totally fictional

Ruben Tejada and Ike Davis are torching Arizona Fall League pitching.

Mike Salfino blinds me with science while investigating Mark Sanchez’s psychological state.

Zoe Rice, a familiar name in the Mets’ blogosphere, and I speculate on some good potential board-game movies for the Perpetual Post. This might be funny, but I can’t tell how it came out because it’s blocked by SNY’s fascist Web filter. We’re apparently not supposed to play or read about games, which ends up blocking a whole lot of baseball content and even more game-theory content. I’m looking at you, IT director Gil.

UPDATE, 10:23 A.M.
Gil has lifted the ban on games on my computer. Great job by him. The mark of a good IT man is his ability to keep up with the times. The times clearly called for the ban on games on my computer to be lifted.

Paul at Section Five Twenty-Eight returns with more John Olerud facts. My favorite: John Olerud avoids using the word “moist,” because it sounds so inappropriate.

Tim McLelland is sorry. In the words of Eric Gordon, “Sorry doesn’t put the Triscuit crackers in my stomach.” Also, one thing we’re all missing in this is that Tim McLelland is massive. Honestly, check it out next time he’s behind the plate. He’s huge. He’ll twist off your head if you argue a call.

You know what subject I don’t cover enough? Taco Bell. (Language NSFW.)

Alex Nelson of Amazin’ Avenue knows an absolute ton about the Mets’ 2009 draftees. I’m most excited for ZeErika Hall, because his name is ZeErika.

The most interesting thing of the Mariano Rivera spitball controversy? We found out a lot more about how and why spitballs are thrown. I always dreamed of doctoring the ball in Little League, just because I thought it would be funny and figured no one would ever suspect it. But we didn’t have the Internet then and no one would show me how.

I know it’s nothing new, but nothing says “postmodern absurdity” more than when the New York media discusses how an athlete or coach handles the New York media.

Brooklyn Met Fan asks a question I also asked last night: “Izzit just me or has umpiring as a whole gotten significantly worse this season?”

The Jets’ offensive line has been zone blocking more on running plays, which could explain the slow start to their run game.

Joe Girardi is being absolutely skewered for what appears to be a case of overmanaging his bullpen in last night’s loss. Just a really weird decision.

There’s some speculation that the Jets could look for a replacement for Kris Jenkins by trade, but Brian Bassett is rightfully skeptical.

It really looks like Mariano Rivera spit on the ball yesterday. I highly doubt that’s his secret, but if it is and he’s been getting away with it for this long, he’s kind of my hero.

StubHub revealed itself as part of the global conspiracy to torture Cerrone.

I don’t condone this kind of violence, even though I understand his frustration. Dude: Don’t shoot the Taco Bell employees; they’re the ones who make the tacos.

According to a New York Times article, baseball’s unwritten rules don’t actually exist. And good. Unwritten rules are the dumbest thing in the world, and I include the silly gentleman’s agreement-type rules that prevent players from bunting to break up no-hitters and such. If it’s important enough to be a rule, make it a rule. If not, I want my team exploiting it for a competitive advantage.

Apparently Kris Jenkins’ knee injury could end his season. I think that might be extraordinarily bad.

Mike Silva wonders if Tony Bernazard joining forces with Scott Boras will negatively impact the Mets. I tend to doubt it. Silva reminds us that the Mets were a “persona non grata” with Boras after Steve Phillips poo-pooed A-Rod’s demands, but I always understood it to be other way around. Say what you will about Boras, he’s an amazing businessman, and he knows better than to alienate one of the teams with the most money to spend on his players.

Was it really so obvious to everyone that the Mets should have signed Randy Wolf last year? Maybe, but I missed it. He was coming off his first healthy season in five and hadn’t been much above average since 2002.

It turns out that, aside from the Twitter whining, David Clowney might be a pretty awesome guy.

Mike and the Mad Dog will reunite today. Smart money says it’ll be entertaining but ultimately frustrating nonsense.

A-Rod’s cousin and drug hookup Yuri Sucart is in financial trouble. Hmm… I wonder if he knows anyone who could bail him out.

Pedro Martinez will start Game 2 of the NLCS tonight. I wish the Phillies lost Game 1 so I could root for Pedro to at least have a decent start and Lidge to blow it. Now I’m taking no chances. My hatred for the Phillies trumps my love for Pedro.

Toby Hyde continues covering the crap out of the Mets’ Minor League system, breaking down Fernando Martinez and Jon Niese upon their inclusion in Baseball America’s Top 20 International League prospects. Shockingly, as Toby points out, Jesus Feliciano did not make the cut.