Madden: Willie had no chance  —  From the day Mets GM Omar Minaya hired him in November of 2004, Willie Randolph was set up to fail.  The Wilpons were leery about turning over the Mets to a manager with no experience and safeguards were put in immediately.  —  Melting pot stirs up Mets' roster

‘Mike and the Mad Dog’ radio show could be history  —  “Mike and the Mad Dog,” the most successful, influential show in sports talk radio history, could soon be history itself.  —  Barring a change of heart, the partnership between Mike Francesa and Christopher “Mad Dog” …

Mets hire Krivsky as Minaya's special assistant … DENVER (AP) — Longtime baseball executive Wayne Krivsky was hired by the New York Mets on Saturday as special assistant to general manager Omar Minaya.  —  Krivsky was fired as GM of the Cincinnati Reds in late April.

Sounding the Horne?  —  Yanks may have to take a look at Minor League prospect  —  The injury to workhorse starter Chien-Ming Wang seriously threatens to submerge the Yankees' playoff hopes, which already were taking on water despite the recent spate of wins against the overmatched National League.

The numbers don't add up  —  Marlins winning despite some ugly statistical trends  —  OAKLAND — Calculating the Marlins' success is somewhat baffling because their hard statistical data isn't indicative of a team being this close to first place this far along in the season.

Indians break out in 11th  —  Peralta the hero in second straight extra-innings win  —  LOS ANGELES — A celebrity softball game was scheduled to take place on the field at Dodger Stadium after Saturday afternoon's Indians-Dodgers game.  —  That spelled trouble.

Dodgers GM Ned Colletti faces tough decisions  —  Trading some of the team's young talent this summer might bring a division title this fall, but it also might harm the team's long-term future.  —  Welcome back, Lakers fans.  We rejoin this Dodgers season, already in progress.

Relative says MLB should retire Ruth's No. 3  —  The debate rises up from the history books.  The question is one of honor.  And the woman at the center of it all swears she'll never stop swinging for the fences.  Just like her grandfather.  —  “I'm not going away,” she says.

Pirates Notebook: Marte might stay after all  —  For months, it seemed a lock that Damaso Marte was the most likely of the Pirates' veterans to be traded.  —  No more.  —  Management began entertaining offers for him in the offseason, and that never stopped.

Valentin taking rest of year off  —  The Mets had hoped to get veteran sparkplug Jose Valentin back, but Valentin (pictured) won't be rejoining them this season — or possibly ever again.  —  The 38-year-old infielder called the team Friday night from Triple-A New Orleans and said he plans to take the rest of the season off.

Cards deck Dice-K with an early exit  —  Sox starter lasts only three outs  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email  —  Any hope Daisuke Matsuzaka [stats] would immediately return to his old form after nearly a month on the disabled list with a right rotator cuff strain …

Four?  Moose is teed off  —  He's irked by Joe's call for intentional BB that preceded 2-run hit  —  Johnny Damon misplays a ball in left field, which helped the Reds score three runs in the fifth inning and defeat the Yankees, 4-2, Friday night in the Bronx.  (Newsday photo/Paul J. Bereswill / June 20, 2008)

Blame It On The Rain  —  When NESN came back from a commercial at the beginning of the rain delay, the fans at Fenway Park were being treated to Boston Red Sox bullpen members Jonathan Papelbon and Manny Delcarmen getting their Milli Vanilli on and lip-synching their song “Blame It On The Rain”.