1. Willie Randolph issued an apology in Atlanta for the comments he made in Monday’s Bergen Record in which he insinuated race played a part in negative reactions to his managing and that SNY purposely shoots him from unflattering angles. But know this about the apology: It came under a great burden from upper management. The main executives of the team felt Randolph had caused an unneeded distraction and also made it clear that he needed to fix this. The executives also made it clear that they would not be offering much help; essentially was this is your mess clean it up. Like always wins – not words – will be the best help for Randolph. And, really, we will not get a true feeling about how this is perceived until the next time Randolph appears at Shea Stadium. But I believe this was an apology delivered under duress, not something from the heart.

2. The Yanks began play Wednesday with the AL’s worst record (4-9) when the opponent starts a lefty. And Wednesday began a period in which the Yanks were facing lefty starters five times in a seven-game stretch. Now that included two starts each from the hardly overwhelming Baltimore duo of Garrett Olson and Brian Burres sandwiched around a start from the former Oriole ace and current Mariner Erik Bedard. Here are three keys for the Yanks to turn around their fortunes against lefties: 1) The most obvious is that Alex Rodriguez is back and just his presence is vital to the lineup. But the Yanks need him to generate big-time production, as well. 2) The Yanks need Shelley Duncan to be real. If he were able to be a factor against lefties, the Yanks could rest someone from the veteran lefty group of Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu each time they faced a lefty. 3) Robinson Cano needs to hit. More than any other lefty, Cano has the promise of hitting lefties consistently well and doing damage. The Yanks need that force in the lineup.

3. Whose backtrack from critical statements did you find more believable, Billy Wagner’s or Willie Randolph’s? I will go with C) None of the above.