I've been a little out of it for the past few days. As a gentle summer rain cools Vermont off this morning, I'm catching up on the latest dish in the papers. Here's some Sunday tidbits I've come across:

From the Times:

[Bernie] Williams's day started with a flat tire on his drive to the ballpark, an anecdote Manager Joe Torre shared. "It was perfect, but that's Bernie," he said. "That's the way we categorize everything that involves him: that's Bernie. Bernie being Bernie."

..."I know I've got a lot to catch up for the year, as far as numbers are concerned," said Williams, who has nine homers and a .245 batting average. "But hopefully they'll see a value in me being on the team, more valuable than individual numbers. They'll see that in a given situation, I can help the team win in that fashion."

And another thing, Alex Rodriguez's solo dinger that was estimated at 485 feet. It was Rodriguez's 20th home run at Yankee Stadium this season, a record for a right-hander in the Bronx:

Swinging on the first pitch, Rodriguez launched a 95-mile-an-hour fastball over three fences - the one in left field, the one at the back of the Texas bullpen and the one that borders the ambulance parking lot adjacent to the outer wall of the stadium.

Martinez, a 16-year veteran, called it the longest homer he had ever seen. For Rodriguez, who has 34 homers this season and 415 for his career, this was his masterpiece.

"Probably the best ball I've ever hit," he said, adding later: "That's one of those balls you hit like that every five years or so. But I don't remember hitting one better."

I caught the home run on the highlight shows and couldn't see where it landed. (I wasn't alone.)The best one I've seen Rodriguez hit for the Yanks was a left-field upper deck job last summer. Guess this one was even better. His defensive play in the 11th inning probably saved the game too.

Oh, and some more minor bullcrap from Boss George, and Take-the-high-road-Joe.

Wright and the Big Unit look to be back this week...