New York, New York: Great Song, Great Series?

I’m in New York for the same reason Hillary Rodham Clinton came not so long ago, for a “listening tour.” . . .

The thing I’m hearing most about is the potential for a Subway Series. . . .

With wins in 17 of their last 22 games and the National League’s second-best record before Wednesday night’s game in Milwaukee, the Mets credit their success to Mike Piazza. . . .

Not only did he have a .312 average, 23 home runs and 74 runs batted in through Tuesday night’s 10-3 victory over the Brewers, the Mets say his signing signaled to everyone on the team that management was serious about challenging Atlanta in the NL East. . . .

General Manager Steve Phillips added an exclamation point with the subsequent signing of Robin Ventura, who was hitting .304 with 24 home runs and 88 RBIs before Wednesday night. . . .

Orel Hershiser’s victory Tuesday night in Milwaukee was sweeter for him because it came against former Met Bill Pulsipher, who was sent to the Brewers at the trading deadline last season for a minor league utility infielder. . . .

Before the season, Pulsipher said, “It’s not that there’s anything wrong with Orel Hershiser. But [the Mets] signed a 40-year-old pitcher when they could have had a 25-year-old pitcher.” . . .

Yes, and now they’re stuck with a pitcher who has won 11 games this season as opposed to one who has won three. . . .

For the American League, the three games between New York and Toronto at Yankee Stadium this week were about as close as it’s going to get to a big series. . . .

The Yankees won two to extend their lead over the Blue Jays in the AL East to six games, far short of the 15-game lead they had during the first week of August last season but still comfortable. . . .

They would be more comfortable if Roger Clemens were having the Cy Young season they expected.

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The highly priced pitchers who have been worth their money this season are Pedro Martinez, Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. . . .

I’d give a slight edge to Johnson, who has nine complete games. . . .

Schilling has eight, Mussina four and Martinez three. Before Wednesday night, Clemens and Kevin Brown had one each. Atlanta’s triumvirate of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz had combined for five. . . .

Complete games will be essential for the Red Sox, who now know why Stephen King wrote the book “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.” . . .

With Gordon out for the season, knuckleballer Tim Wakefield can’t handle the closer role alone. . . .

The Blue Jays’ surge under Manager Jim Fregosi proves that the San Francisco Giants had the right man a couple of years ago when they hired him for their front office so that he would be available when they had to fire Dusty Baker. . . .

What they didn’t realize was that they also had the right man in Baker, who has become one of the game’s best managers. . . .

Toronto’s Shawn Green, who started the week ranked among the top 10 in the American League in hitting, home runs and RBIs, said he wasn’t raised in a particularly religious household in Tustin. But the interest in his Jewish heritage has caused him to explore it further and now he tells the New York Times he wants a bar mitzvah. . . .

Derek Fisher’s new contract should be an inspiration to everyone who is too short, can’t shoot well enough and attended too small a college to play in the NBA. . . .

Despite the length of his deal, I’m still not sure he’s the Laker point guard of the future. . . .

But the Clippers could have used him. Sherman Douglas is about to sign a three-year deal elsewhere, although his agent wasn’t ready to identify the team. . . .

The New York Knicks acknowledge they called Charles Oakley, having missed his leadership, but they expect him to sign with the Lakers. . . .

Besides, they were concerned that signing him would send the wrong message to Marcus Camby. . . .

Jason Sehorn, the New York Giant cornerback who sat out all of last season because of a knee injury, is on the sidelines during training camp because of a severely pulled hamstring. . . .

The former USC Trojan says that his vigorous off-season training program in Irvine under Marv Marinovich and Kevin McNair shouldn’t be blamed. It was his fault, Sehorn says, for not spending enough time stretching.

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While wondering if the man who tried to sell American football to Europe can sell European football to America, I was thinking: I never would have suspected that high jumper Javier Sotomayor was jumping high, tell me again what so many critics found wrong with the Tiger Woods-David Duval match, maybe next year for our Freeway Series.

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.