Before we move onto hats, got to thinking about Mets youngster Mike Pelfrey.

Should he start the season in the majors? I think Pelfrey is different than Phil Hughes even though he is older, until he has a good handle on the slider, the new pitch he’s been taught by Rick Peterson, he should stay at AAA. Once he commands the slider, he should come up.

What do you think?

Got to thinking about how the marketing mavens have helped take away some of the charm of spring training. These new caps they are wearing in spring training are brutal. It looks like the players are wearing a bandana under their caps. I guess MLB couldn’t sell WBC caps this year so they came up with this.

Has anyone bought these caps? Have you seen them anywhere besides on the heads of the players this spring? What’s the worst marketing scheme you’ve come across in spring training?

. I was talking to a Mets fan the other day in Jupiter and he said tickets were as high as $20, all to see the B-Mets. That’s why I still say the best bargain in baseball is to come to spring training before the games start. Roam the fields and get up close and personal with the players.

The games are just an excuse to eat food and drink beer. You will see more in the workouts and if you want to teach your kids something, it’s a lot easier to show them a drill at that relaxed time than something during a game.

All the hitting detail I got from Carlos Beltran in last Sunday’s Post, about Beltran finding his hitting balance thanks to Julio Franco, all that came as a result of watching him work in the cage. That story generated a lot of responses, unfortunately, there is something going on with my email at the Post and I cannot respond to emails.

As for my Phil Hughes thought yesterday of starting him with the Yankees at the start of the season and not later in the season, Yankee fans agreed. We’ll see how that goes. Sometimes the Yankees are too cautious. I agree with Jim Leyland. The Tiger manager told me earlier this spring that when he calls down to the bullpen, he doesn’t ask how old they are, just if they can pitch.

This spring I’ve been trying to keep you updated on all the animals I’ve come across in Florida, wild boars, armadillos, the Philly sportswriters at Frenchy’s in Clearwater. Well, the Nationals-Braves game was a regular zoo on Tuesday. Somehow, a raccoon got loose on the field before the game at Space Coast Stadium in Viera.

A stadium worker finally cornered the raccoon and picked it like a cat would pick up her kittens. That earned an ovation from the Braves, who were on the field stretching at the time.

Saw where Pedro threw today for 10 minutes. He’s right on schedule because when we talked to him a few days before camp started, he said he was hoping to throw on March 7. I’m predicting he will make his first start for the Mets on August 7 against the Braves at Shea.

Mark it down.