Yankees Are Capitalizing on Rivalry With Mets

It sounds silly, but this is New York, and New York teams don’t do silly.

Yankee left-hander Andy Pettitte is in trouble because of his son’s baseball cap.

Last week, a photographer snapped a picture of Pettitte and sons Josh and Jared in the dugout at Legends Field in Tampa, Fla. Pettitte thanked him and made sure to get a copy of the photo.

Only one problem: 7-year-old Josh was wearing a Met cap. There was a logical reason: Back home in Texas, he plays for a Little League team called the Mets.

No matter. The Yankees take their rivalry with the Mets very seriously, and when the picture appeared in a local paper the next day, the reaction was swift. “Apparently, someone was upset. I don’t know who,” Pettitte said.

Said General Manager Brian Cashman: “I was made aware of the picture. I went to the player and inquired about the circumstances.”

Neither Pettitte nor Cashman offered details, but it seemed clear their talk took on a serious tone.

“To me, it’s a non-issue,” Pettitte said.

But not to everyone in the Yankee organization.

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Mystery man: Steve Jacobsen of Newsday, commenting on Sandy Koufax, who showed up recently at the Mets’ Port St. Lucie, Fla., training camp to counsel pitcher Shawn Estes:

“Ballplayers like Koufax. He’s open and expansive with them. He is the patron saint of left-handed pitchers. Hall of famer is not a high enough designation. He tells stories. And he has that mystique.

“He’s also highly skilled at avoiding crowds. Now the Mets were playing 90 miles up the road and only a handful of onlookers and eavesdroppers were around to recognize the lean fellow with the shock of gray hair....

“Hardly anyone knew Koufax would be there. ‘It’s like he’ll appear from the rain clouds,’ Estes said. ‘When he’s done, he pulls his Houdini act.’”

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Trivia time: Which school did Oregon defeat when it won the first men’s NCAA Division I basketball championship in 1939?

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The long wait: Gene Frenette in the Florida Times-Union: “The newest power couple in sports is tennis star Martina Hingis and golfer Sergio Garcia, which is proof that opposites attract.

“In the time it takes Garcia to address the ball, Hingis can win a match, talk to reporters, get showered and ready to go out on a date.”

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No surprise: Reader Steve Abney to the San Francisco Chronicle: “Scientists in the Siberian tundra have announced the discovery of a perfectly preserved Neolithic hunter with some frozen artifacts including a stone ax and Rickey Henderson’s baseball card.”

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Teen bell: Gold medal-winning figure skater Sarah Hughes will ring the opening bell today at the New York Stock Exchange.

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Trivia answer: Ohio State, by a score of 46-33.

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Base instinct: Barry Bonds, on his accomplishments last season: “I’ve forever aimed for .500, reaching base in half of my at-bats. Seventy-three homers was as much an accident as an accomplishment but the on-base numbers (.515 in 2001) are what really thrilled me.”

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And finally: Dr. Wayne Isom, a cardiologist treating Jack Nicklaus, 62, for high blood pressure, says the condition is not the biggest threat to his career: “He’s got the heart of a 20-year-old. I can’t say the same for his back.”