Nation Watching the Nation  —  It's Jerry Remy Day at Fenway, and MLB Extra Innings will be showing the Red Sox pre-game show at 6 PM EDT so fans of the President of Red Sox Nation across the nation can tune in and see the show.  —  I enjoy Jerry's announcing.  He's local, he's knowledgeable and he's funny.

Mets sign first round pick Ike Davis … The Mets signed their first pick of the first round, power hitting first baseman Ike Davis of Arizona State.  It is believed Davis, the son of former Yankees reliever Ron Davis, received in the range of $1.5 million.

PAVANO MAY RETURN BEFORE PHIL  —  Dropping him into the clubhouse might prove to be too much of a challenge, but there is a chance Carl “American Idle” Pavano could be ready to pitch for the Yankees before Phil Hughes.  —  “I haven't asked, but it's possible,” GM Brian Cashman said last night.

Damon hurting; Christian called up  —  PITTSBURGH — With Johnny Damon sidelined by an injured foot, the Yankees today called up outfielder Justin Christian for tonight's game against the Pirates at PNC Park.  —  Chrisitan is in the starting lineup, batting eighth and playing left field.

Two things I don't quite understand  —  First off, I'm supposed to believe that fans actually miss Willie Randolph now?  That's a joke, right?  Since last September, everyone has been screaming for Randolph to be fired.  He was booed at Shea for the first 10 weeks of this season.

Tribe inks two to Minor League deals  —  Rincon, Graffanino to report to Triple-A Buffalo  —  CLEVELAND — The Indians are sending a couple more veteran big leaguers to Triple-A Buffalo as depth options.  Reliever Juan Rincon and infielder Tony Graffanino were signed to Minor League contracts on Tuesday.

Latinos and College Baseball  —  A while back I examined the decline of African-Americans playing major-league baseball.  James Wagner looks at the racial composition of Division I college baseball and notices a different trend. … I am not concerned about the lack of foreign Latinos in college baseball.

Yankees Should Trade Melky Cabrera  —  Two key tenets of successful team building in baseball: First, deal from strength, and second, take advantage when the market overvalues your assets.  Brian Cashman may find himself in the unusual position of meeting both conditions for making a trade …

Chulk designated for assignment  —  Righty struggled in bullpen; Romo recalled from Double-A  —  CLEVELAND — The Giants began revamping their struggling bullpen Tuesday by designating right-hander Vinnie Chulk for assignment and purchasing the contract of right-hander Sergio Romo from Double-A Connecticut.

Royals claim Tejeda off waivers  —  KANSAS CITY — The Royals claimed pitcher Robinson Tejeda off waivers on Tuesday and made room for him on the 40-man roster by moving pitcher John Bale to the 60-day disabled list.  —  Kansas City will have to make a move on its 25-man roster when Tejeda joins the Royals.

Dunn doesn't show it much, but he loves baseball  —  The Blue Jays' GM alleged Adam Dunn didn't have passion for baseball.  That couldn't be further from the truth, Ken Rosenthal says.

Hanley up in tight All-Star race at short  —  A mere 200K votes separate top three in NL fan balloting  —  One of the closest campaigns in All-Star history has a new leader.  Again.  —  Florida's Hanley Ramirez is back on top again in the voting to be the National League's starting shortstop …

Santo's Hall of Fame bid gets a big boost  —  Enshrined Morgan calls ex-Cub's candidacy a ‘no-brainer’  —  They sat two booths apart during the Cubs-White Sox game Sunday night at Wrigley Field, the man who would be in the Hall of Fame and the man who would help him get there.

Vindicating Derek Jeter's fielding at short (sorta)  —  Introducing OPA!  OPA! is my new (still in the works) fielding system for use with Retrosheet, one that I've been meaning to create for a while now.  Last week, I teased the beginnings of OPA!, at least the ground ball part.

In 1960, a Series to Remember (or Forget)  —  PITTSBURGH — Typically, Herb Soltman and his legion of Pittsburgh Pirates fans have only one day a year to pay homage to the most dramatic ending in the 104 years of World Series play, when Bill Mazeroski blasted a game-ending …