A Giant makeover.(Caught On The Fly)

When Dusty Baker blew off to the Windy City, Felipe Alou was the perfect replacement. He had just the right touch--well, in the regular season--for a win-now, veteran team. But now that G.M. Brian Sabean's talking about slashing the budget, possibly waving bye-bye to every regular but Barry and ignoring the available big boppers like Sheff and Vlad, well, Felipe doesn't feel like such a great fit anymore. Sure, he built his rep rehabbing the Expos, but the word is his heart's not in that kind of heavy lifting anymore. Fly's advice, Sabes: When you do all of your remodeling this offseason, don't forget to add the hot seat in the manager's office.

Adding an insult to injury

There was a mild wave of optimism in N.Y./N.J. last week when Chad Pennington, who once was feared to be lost for the year, was upgraded to doubtful on the league's official injury report. Hey, grab on to whatever you can, Jets fans. But Fly's official prognosis still has it more probable than questionable that this team is out.

I bat right after what's-his-face

After the Red Sox advanced to the ALCS, Manny Ramirez was asked why they have had so much success this year. ...