1. Is it possible that we are going to have something akin to the 1941 AL MVP debate in the NL this year. In 1941, Ted Williams hit .406 (the last time anyone topped .400) and nevertheless finished second in the MVP balloting behind Joe DiMaggio, who hit in a record 56 straight games and whose Yankees won the pennant. Here we are with roughly 100 games to go and Atlanta’s Chipper Jones is hitting .420. Yet if the NL MVP voting were done today, Philadelphia’s Chase Utley would probably be viewed as the front-runner with his team in first place and his major league-high 21 homers. And Houston’s Lance Berkman and St. Louis’ Albert Pujols would certainly be part of the discussion. It is setting up as one of the most intriguing MVP debates in history.

2. Jose Reyes is playing great and the Mets aren’t, so I guess now we can all stop saying, “as Jose Reyes goes, so go the Mets.”

3. If you sense it is strange that Mariano Rivera gave up homers to David DeJesus on Saturday and Jose Guillen on Monday, both of the Royals and both in the same series, then you should trust those senses. It was only the second time since Rivera became a full-time reliever in 1996 that he had given up more than one homer in the same series. The other time came on July 18, 1998 when Ed Sprague and Mike Stanley of the Blue Jays hit back to back homers. But the Yanks led 10-1 before that duo hit consecutive dingers.