JOHN Olerud, at age 36, was designated for assignment, which is the euphemism for “nobody wants you.” Of course, after all he had done so quietly throughout a fine career, and as many people as he had quietly impressed, you would want to break news like that to such a gentleman gently.

But bottom line was, after more than 2,100 hits, John Olerud was batting .245 for a Seattle team that had seen better days, just like he had.

His wife Kelly, was pregnant with their third child, so he turned down the minors and stayed home in Seattle. If the phone don’t ring you’ll know it’s me, goes the country song, and yeah, Olerud wondered if this was it.

“It’s definitely hard when you get released,” he said. “It’s not something you want to have happen to you.

“I was hoping I would get another opportunity, but in the middle of the year you don’t know if there is going to be an opening.”

Turns out business wasn’t as slow as Olerud goes first to third, not that he has ever tried it. Four teams, all in pennant races, expressed interest within a week, the Yankees most of all.

“You look for the best fit,” he said. “For me, it was New York.”

With a different part of Jason Giambi’s body turning on him seemingly every day, the Yankees had little to lose, only some at-bats by Tony Clark.

Thus did the world’s second-nicest person replace the world’s nicest person on Aug. 4, seven days after Olerud was released unconditionally. In his first game as a Yankee, he went 2-for-5 with two RBIs in a win over Oakland, then went on to hit .312 in August with 14 RBIs.

If you want to say there’s gotta be something about the pinstripes, tell that to Jeff Weaver. Giambi, Alex Rodriguez and even Roger Clemens took time to get comfortable. So maybe the best way to come here is under the radar.

Olerud had experience the first time he was considered washed up, by the Jays, who paid almost his entire salary in 1997 to play for the Mets. Having been rejuvenated once here, already, here he is again. Last night, with one on and the Yankees nursing a 1-0 lead since the first, Olerud hammered a 1-2 Pedro Martinez fastball into the lower right field deck in the sixth – his 10th postseason homer.

“Two strikes against Pedro is a bad position to be in,” Olerud said. “I’m just trying to protect the plate, got a fastball up and in and did a good job of getting the barrel on it.”

It provided Jon Lieber with two valuable runs of insurance the Yankees turned out to need in their 3-1, Game 2 victory.

He’s turned out to be quite the policy, John Olerud has, finishing the season .280 as a Yankee with four home runs and 26 RBIs and playing the usual near-flawless first base.

Everywhere he has been, though, Olerud has fit like an old chair. Man has never had a discernable pulse, just a swing like a metronome, flat as his voice. Asked if this was the biggest home run of his career, he thought for a minute and said, “I don’t know. It is freshest in my mind.”

This is a guy who took the subway regularly to Shea, when he turned out to be a major building block in the last Met turnaround that led to the 2000 World Series. Then he was gone, via free agency, to his hometown team, which won 116 games with him as a regular in 2001.

Olerud came back to New York as a virtual freebie again. For the record, his daddy is an orthopedist, and John never needed the millions he earned, but now will work for a postseason share of winning.

For all the Yankees have spent, successfully and otherwise, to keep this run going, whattaya know, they found a bargain.