Plans are in the works to have Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte transfer home plate from the current ballpark into the new Yankee Stadium - perhaps on Nov. 8, according to a person familiar with the concept.

By now, most fans have heard about the Omaha, N.E. native -- he has a knack for pitching with both arms. And although that's quite an impressive feat, it had nothing to do with him winning a MiLBY for Best Short-Season Reliever.

The Creighton University alum finished his rookie campaign 1-0 with an 0.83 ERA and a New York-Penn League-leading 23 saves, allowing just three earned runs in 30 games with Class A Short-Season Staten Island. Venditte, however, couldn't believe the news.

"This is something my teammates would pull," Venditte laughed after hearing he'd won the award. "But I definitely didn't expect it. It's definitely an honor. I'm very fortunate, and it was a good experience for the summer."

"He made a mistake," Cashman said on Tuesday evening. "He apologized for it. Thank [goodness], no one was hurt, because it's a very serious issue. And I hope that's the end of it." ...

"He's part of our family," Cashman said. "We're going to support him, but at the same time, he knows that stuff like this can't happen."

“I wouldn’t say other than the fact that I did talk to him,” Cashman said. “I’ll leave it at that. … He’s an employee of ours. The sensitivity of some of that stuff, I wouldn’t even get into. Not because of him, but for any of our employees. There’s a proper protocol. … He has our support and that’s defined in a number of different ways.” ...

“I can’t say I’m confident about anything. I wouldn’t represent what goes on in other people’s lives,” Cashman said. “He knows we care a great deal about him. He knows he’s got all the support from us that we can provide because we do care about him. I don’t know what goes on in anybody’s personal life. But he’s part of our family.”

"He made a mistake," Cashman said. "He apologized for it. Thank God no one was hurt. It's a very serious issue. I hope that's the end of it." ...

"He knows that stuff like that can't happen," Cashman said. "And he's the first to admit that. And hopefully it's something he has and will learn from."

Star pitcher Chien-ming Wang and pianist Meng-chieh Liu were among 10 people who were selected Monday as the 10 most outstanding young men and women in Taiwan for 2008.

Wang, a Taiwan-born starting pitcher for the New York Yankees, was chosen in recognition of his outstanding performance in the United States major leagues, said Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, who was on the panel of judges.

"New York, American League,'' Rollins, an Alameda, Calif. product, said. "They've got enough money, and they need him.''

For the 2008 Trenton Thunder, the Eastern League affiliate of the New York Yankees and Best Double-A Team MiLBY Award winner, the celebratory scene was familiar and yet wonderfully different.

A year after capturing its first-ever Eastern League title at Akron in 2007, Trenton got to pop the champagne in front of 3,000 cheering fans at Mercer County Waterfront Park as the circuit's first back-to-back champion in over a decade.

Theresa M. Collins, a history professor at Rutgers for 17 years, teaches the one-credit course at the Livingston campus in Piscataway, N.J. With 220 applicants, she said, Yankee Stadium was the most requested first-year research seminar this fall.

“The purpose of this course is to open up the minds of these students to the joys of research, especially in places you wouldn’t normally think of it — like Yankee Stadium,” she said. “We often discuss the potential for certain research projects related to the Stadium, which allows the students an opportunity to maximize their sense of learning in this field.”

What Strawberry doesn't want to hear is Chamberlain say this was a one-time occasion. That, Strawberry said, would sound like denial. "Think about it. He just got caught this time. How many other times did he drive drunk?" Strawberry said. "It's probably not the first time he was behind the wheel intoxicated. It's just that this time he got caught."

So what should Chamberlain do? That's easy, Strawberry said.

"If Joba was smart, he would walk right across his clubhouse and sit down next to Derek Jeter and talk to him about responsibilities and living life the right way," Strawberry said. "If he was really smart after what just happened, there's a guy right in your clubhouse on your team who can help you. Ask him for some advice. Ask him the things you should do. And he'll sit down with you and tell you.

According to an industry source, the Yankees are waiting to see if the Brewers pick up a $10 option on [center fielder Mike] Cameron, who will be 36 in January. ...

"I am not going to tell you that's right or not," Cashman said. "We are going to do whatever to make the team better, that's the bottom line."

[Derek] Lowe told this reporter that while money is important, he wants to go to a quality organization committed to winning, and no organization, in his mind, fits that description better than Boston.

The New York Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys, Goldman Sachs and CIC Partners today announced that they have founded Legends Hospitality Management, LLC), a new company that will offer a broad range of sports business services. Legends’ initial focus will be on operating catering, concessions, retail merchandising and other facility management enterprises for major sports and entertainment facilities.

Led by Michael Rawlings, former President of Pizza Hut, Inc., Legends will offer differentiated solutions to create innovative, high-quality stadium experiences for fans.

Legends has been granted the exclusive right to operate concessions, catering and merchandising services at the new, state-of-the-art Yankees and Cowboys stadiums on a multi-year basis. Legends intends to expand beyond these anchor teams to provide its services to professional and college sports teams and other event facilities worldwide.

"I want to apologize to the New York Yankees and the fans for an error in judgment and for putting myself in a difficult situation," Chamberlain said in a statement released by his agent, Randy Hendricks. "I intend to properly resolve this situation, and do not intend to be in such a situation again. My goal is to focus on pitching for the Yankees in the 2009 season."

"This hurts," said Joe Pepitone, a teammate from 1962 through 1969. "He was my roommate for six years of my life, my hitting instructor and my best friend. He let me be me, but he was also the guy who kept me in at night. Tommy was a constant in my life and a calming influence.

"He was always there for me and stuck up for me. He was like my brother. When I had personal issues, he was always the person on the team I would turn to. During some rain delays, he would take out his guitar and we'd sing and dance."

The Yankees New York Yankees will have a clearer idea of who their third base coach will be later this week.

That's when Larry Bowa will meet with Dodgers brass to discuss his future. Bowa, who is the Yankees' No. 1 choice to replace Bobby Meacham, recently finished the first of a two-year deal to coach third for the Dodgers. Nevertheless, Bowa has an out in the contract.

Bowa, the best third base coach in baseball, was with the Yankees in 2006 and 2007 but not retained when manager Joe Torre didn't return for the 2008 season. Instead, Bowa joined Torre in Los Angeles.

It was obvious, from his background, that Steinbrenner was the perfect man for Burke. For one thing, he had the money. For another, he had the interest, For a third, he could afford to have the Yankees for a toy. Steinbrenner has other toys. Boars. Real ones. He is Chairman and chief executive officer of The American Ship Building Company of Cleveland. That's not all. He is owner of the Kinsman Stud Farm in Ocala, Fla., part owner of the Chicago Bulls, partner in production of the Broadway musical "Applause" and the national companies of "Funny Girl," "George M." and "On a Clear Day."

The Yankees are said to want to sign two out of three starting pitchers they're coveting -- CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe. Sabathia is, of course, their No. 1 target. But Yankees players seem to love the idea of signing Burnett, a pitcher who has dominated them.

"The Yankees were considering having a charitable event at Yankee Stadium for BAT (Baseball Assistance Team). However, the Yankees realized that the final event at Yankee Stadium should be a baseball game which in fact took place on Sept. 21, 2008 with the magnificent closing ceremony. Accordingly, rather than having a fundraiser, the Yankees will be donating $500,000 to BAT."

Whom would you rather have? CC Sabathia for six years and $150 million? Or Jake Peavy for four years and $63 million?

The Padres, coming off a 63-99 season, will at least explore a Peavy trade, general manager Kevin Towers confirmed to Newsday. ESPN's Buster Olney first reported that possibility this past week.

The Yankees are among the teams with prospects that interest the Padres, although it's not clear whether Peavy would waive his no-trade clause to come to the Bronx.

"There was some good, some bad and some ugly," Maas says now about his career. "Like life. Should I have had a 10-year career, 20 or 30 homers a year? It is what it is. I played 11 years of pro ball and at 33, the end, my bat was getting slower and I had trouble staying healthy. There were a lot of influences pointing me to move on and I wasn't afraid to."

Before I get to playoff match-ups, I want to say thank you for all the kind words regarding Mike’s season, and that I really don’t know what he is going to do next year. I think he was mentally prepared to retire, but after doing so well, and knowing how close the Hall of Fame is (some people think he’s in already, but who knows) I think it’s going to be hard to walk away. At this point, that’s all I will say about Mike.