Mookie Wilson was here before the game to see if the Mets can do in 2006 what he helped them do 20 years ago. But Preston is on the other team, so he was being tugged a bit.

Tony La Russa and his close friend Bill Belichick spent a long while chatting during batting practice. Belichick visited with him during Spring Training, and on Tuesday, the Patriots’ head coach showed up at his press conference wearing a La Russa No. 10 jersey. "I’m a Tony La Russa fan," Belichick said. "I was in [Spring Training] with him this year for a couple of days. It was a lot of fun. It was a great experience. I learned a lot. … Tony is a great leader and manager and tactician and just the way he handles the team, sitting in the dugout with him down there and watching him manage the game and all, it was pretty enlightening." I tried to wait out Belichick to chat with him, but he stayed by the cage for the duration. Oh, to have heard this entire conversation.

Here’s the big boy with the lumber. I refuse to say "little David Eckstein." This guy has become a postseason fixture in this decade. Notice the savvy action photography in the background.

3,110 hits, 465 homers, 1,833 RBIs, All-Star every year from 1977-88, lost a World Series in 1981 with the Yankees ("Mr. May") and then finally won it all with Toronto in 1992. Also a friend and former Yankee teammate of Willie Randolph, who now manages the Mets. Here’s Dave Winfield.

I just felt like taking a Moonlight Graham shot before the game.