1.   And here is one that says it all about baseball these days.

2.   But the Mets are not operating by the same laws as the rest of baseball these days.

3.   But Walt Weiss is far from baseball these days.

4.   Even making allowances for day baseball gates, not as many people went to games as you might think.

5.   Everywhere you look in major-league baseball these days, people are ripping pages from the Gotti Family book of negotiating.

6.   In the meantime they smile like they mean it and play baseball every day.

7.   New York time --prompting one reporter to ask Florida manager Jim Leyland if he misses day baseball in the World Series.

8.   Of course, Michael Jordan was off playing baseball that day.

9.   Still, there is a prefabricated feeling to baseball these days that makes it harder for fans to develop team loyalty.

10.   The best team in baseball these days is certainly not the Braves, or even the Yankees.