Is nothing sacred? Now a guy can’t even step out to his favorite Toronto strip club without being hounded by photographers? Catching rays on a rock in Central Park is one thing. But a strip club? With a ‘mysterious busty blond’? With his fragile ego, A-Rod may not hit another homerun for weeks. Does The Post really want to be responsible for derailing the Yankees best hitter? It’s high time the media stepped up and showed a little accountability. What ever happened to the good old days when we cared about real news - like whether Pavano’s teacher / model babe was pregnant? Or which actress Derek Jeter was dating? Or even Randy Johnson’s love child? The floodgates have opened. Where will it end? With Zimmer on the crapper? Or Hughes passed out at TGI Friday’s? How about a shot of Clemens and Pettitte in the shower? Would that satisfy you!?

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YES’ televised booing of Joe Torre would have gone unseen (it occurred during commercials) were it not for Michael Kay’s directive to replay it after the commerical break. This meant that fans at home, Steinbrenner, and media alike, could all watch it and draw their own conclusions.

On his 1050 ESPN radio show, Michael Kay admitted to ordering the replay of the Torre booing, stating that it was ‘news’. (Since when does YES report ‘news’?) He went on to exhort Yankee brass to make immediate changes, even bringing in John Heyman to bolster the cause.

Why is all this signifcant? The only thing saving Torre’s job at this point could very well be the perception that fans would turn on Steinbrenner after dismissing a Yankee legend. But if Torre’s public support has erroded, then such a move suddenly becomes a viable option.

Kay was very careful to state that he was not calling for anyone’s job. But the powerful image of Torre getting boed off the field and Kay’s decision to broadcast it has to make you wonder if he is being entirely forthright.

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1. Even the fans know that Joe Torre should be ‘on a big hook’. He’s a little slow these days but how long until The Boss realizes it?

2. Did you catch Mike Mussina’s post-game interview on YES? Don’t you dare touch his bag. Don’t even look at it.

3. Has there ever been a more accurate summation of spoiled Yankee fans than Orlando Cabrera’s in Saturday’s La Times?

“They don’t appreciate good baseball. They just appreciate the Yankees beating up on everybody.”

Let’s see how many of these fair-weather, attendance-record-settting fans stick around in August if the Yanks are completely out of the race. The golden era of being a spoiled Yankee fan may be coming to a close.

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Torre and the YES-men lose their heads over yesterday’s game-ending strikeout. Almost the entire post-game broadcast became centered around blaming the umpire (instead of the team’s performance), with one notable exception. Bob Lorenz uncharacteristically feigned disgust over two Angel players (Vladimir Guerrero and Orlando Cabrera) for ‘not hustling’ to firstbase. Bob’s horror was totally unnecessary and flagrant (players jog to first all of the time) and reeked of frustration and sour grapes. As YES’ most steady voice, we’ll cut him a little slack here. But it is apparent that underneath that cool demeanor is a pinstriped cheerleader waiting to bust out. We’ve come to expect more from Bob.

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1. “He’s (Cashman’s) on a big hook.”

Why doesn’t Torre share any of the blame for this miserable start? Is it because The Boss fears mutiny from the players who have rallied around him? As Torre put it yesterday, he and Cash are joined at the hip. And one of Cashman’s biggest (and most questionable) decisions was bringing back Torre after the collapse in Detroit.

2. “I think Roger is capable of sparking the team. He is a veteran and will bring stability.”

Maybe. Just maybe there will be a spark… But is another rickety veteran who may or may not even travel with the team really going to bring stability?

3. “He (Giambi) should have kept his mouth shut.”

It would be best for the Yanks if he had. But give Giambi some credit for at least hinting at the truth. How can we clean up the game if we discourage honesty?

4. “He (Mattingly) understands what it is to be a Yankee…. Jeter is a real Yankee.”

Is The Boss trying to say that there are a bunch of ‘fake’ Yankees running around out there? What in the hell is a real Yankee anyhow? And if it is so damned important to be a ‘real’ one why is the team pinning all of its hopes on the biggest fake Yankee (Clemens) of them all?

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1. “Roger is going to jack some people up,” says cheerleader / Post-man Kevin Kernan. Why do the Yankees need ‘jacking up’? Even with the injuries, how could things go so terribly wrong as to need a boost from the 44-Year-Old Man?

2. Michael Kay says that Pavano’s upcoming surgery proves that all of his critics were wrong, that the guy was legitimately hurt. But what about the mysterious car accident? What about that buttock?

3. Meanwhile Selig is trying to figure out what to do with junkie / Balco Bomber, Jason Giambi. Giambi should be getting grilled on his most controversial (but largely ignored) statement that ‘roids do not help ballplayers. Sure he sounds like an ignoramus. But a seasoned expert like him should know something about the issue. If ‘roids really don’t work or if their impact has been overstated, fans deserve to know.

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1. Suddenly Giambi thinks that baseball should apologize for its steroid problem. Hey why not take a page from Giambi’s book? Baseball can apologize for something, without getting ‘into specifics’. It’s guaranteed to work - at least in New York.

The Balco Bomber goes on to say, “That stuff didn’t help me hit home runs. I don’t care what people say, nothing is going to give you that gift of hitting a baseball.” So if they didn’t help, why bother apologizing? In fact, why not just make steroids legal?

2. Who would have ever thought that Kyle Farnsworth would be the one to come out and admit that this Clemens contract is a joke? We predict this isn’t the last you will hear of a disgruntled Yankee. And if Clemens underperforms this year, watch out.

3. YES’ solution for the Yankees slump? Smash the water cooler. That’s right, the YES-men are in agreement. This team is too complacent. Even passionless. Someone needs to get angry and channel Paul O’Neil. Immediately. We nominate Bobby Abreu.

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1. What was uglier - Mike Mussina’s start and subsequent excuses or Michael Kay lambasting Moose on his EPSN radio show? Kay clearly has beef with the guy, dating back to some random incident when Moose first joined the team. Kay is obviously feeling anxious about the Yanks start this year. And calling out Mussina for a poor pitching performance is fair enough. But dredging up the Japan stories yet again (Mussina stayed in his room and ate peanut butter and jelly all day) shows real contempt on the part of the Yankee broadcaster. Add disgruntled YES-man David Justice to the mix as well for declaring that Mussina was a perennial underachiever ‘in the twilight of his career’.

2. Torre says that A-Rod seems “a little out of whack” at the plate lately. Here’s a suggestion, Joe: drop him to the number 8 slot. See how that works out.

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1. ESPN is going to air the 44-Year-Old Man’s Class-A start? Bad television for sure. Right up there with the rodeo coverage. Totally unwatchable… Hey, why didn’t YES think of it first?

2. Can the old man’s body hold up this season? “I have the same questions as y’all do - is my body going to hold up? I can’t answer that.” Five or six innings, Roger. That’s all they are asking.

3. Move some numbers around and Clemens becomes a bargain for the Yanks.

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1. The Bombers are a couple of games under .500 and guess what? Derek Jeter is still having fun. What a guy. Somehow, he can still see the sunshine amidst the clouds. Well if he really does enjoy the ‘ugly’ parts of baseball, let’s check back if the Yanks are ever 20 games behind in August. How much fun will he be having then?

2. Why are the Yankees so worried about the Red Sox? With Johnny Damon, it’s clear that you have a player who believes the grass is always greener at Fenway. But for Brian Cashman to be openly ruminating over the Sox and their impressive run (”If they play .694 ball the rest of the way with an (81/2-game) lead, no one is going to catch them.”) seems downright un-Yankee-like.

3. See Roger working out with Hughes. See Roger pull up in his Hummer. See Roger through 71 pitches. The 44-Year-Old Man continues to dominate the headlines. Is he really the best story that the Yankee PR machine can conjure up this season?

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