I’ve avoided talking about baseball so far this year. Not that I haven’t watched it, I’ve just avoided writing about it.

Nothing made me quite as happy as the first day of the season when there were four games on ESPN one after the other and I could sit and do work with the games on in the background for hours on end. I can’t explain other than to say there is something very relaxing listening to a baseball game on a warm day - something that just feels so right with the world.

I’ve mellowed in my hatred towards the Yankees this year. A big part of it is because of Donny Baseball’s return to the team as the hitting coach and another part of it has been that the insufferable Yankee fans of the last few years have had little to crow about with their $180 million payroll.

Poor Yankees. Poor, poor Yankees.

So much money, so little to show for it so far.

There’s an old saw about some of the best trades in baseball are the ones you don’t make. Last year the Yankees went out and got Jose Contreras, beating out the Red Sox and this year they managed to nose them out in the A-Rod sweepstakes. When the Yankees signed Contreras, the Sox promptly turned around and spent the same money on three other players (all of whom were instrumental in making the team competitive).

There are a bunch of things I would do if I was running the show (queue the trumpets to the refrain of ‘If I were king...’). I’m not saying signing A-Rod was a bad move but, I would’ve probably had Jeter move over to third and played A-Rod at short. Also, I don’t think I would’ve stocked up on so many guys to DH. Now that the team has Travis Lee, why did they spend all that money on Jason Giambi? Already, I’ve been hearing the trade rumblings (which hasn’t surprised me).

The funny things about the Yankees run in the late nineties is they had a bunch of guys that played as a team. They were the heart of that team and somehow, somewhere along the line the people making decisions decided it was more sexy to get the most expensive home run hitter they could get instead of putting together a team. Gosh, it sure seems like the 80’s all over again.

Meanwhile across town, the Mets have proved to people why they deserve to play in a place called ‘Flushing.’ They certainly haven’t thrown good money after bad but, what is it about the Mets these days? Every time things begin to look up, they lose another player to injury.

Sometimes it’s hard to be a Mets fan... giving all your love to just one team...

Well, I’ve been watching both the Yankees and Mets games this year. The Yankees if only to satisfy my sadistic glee watching them look inept in the field and at the plate and the Mets games hoping against hope they’ll eventually get everyone healthy and prove they have a decent team (yeah, I know but, a guy can hope).

I must say though, I am liking what is coming together (Cameron is just a joy to watch in center field). What I don’t understand is how Art Howe gets such a free pass with the team having done so poorly since he arrived when Bobby Valentine never got the benefit of a doubt.

Ah baseball, what can you do?