You may have heard that New York City will have two new ballparks to attend in 2009. Of course that means that Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium will close their doors forever after the 2008 season. And if you want to be there for the last scheduled game at either venue, you better have a lot of money. Tickets for the finale at Yankees Stadium are being scalped online for as much as $17,000 with......

While nothing is done until the players actually change teams, the Nets and Mavericks have agreed again on a trade that will send Jason Kidd to Dallas. After Devean George sabotaged the first deal with his refusal to waive his no-trade clause and Jerry Stackhouse incurred the wrath of the NBA with his comments, it took some creativity on both sides to complete the deal. The big winner is Keith Van Horn who got $4.3......

Timberwolves 98, Nets 95: Minnesota, with only eight wins on the season,hasn't been a complete rollover during the past 10 days, but that doesn't mean the team is any good. It was a good night for the Jeffersons -- Minnesota's Al had 41 and New Jersey's Richard had 35. The Nets have lost nine straight. The last six of those have come on the road against Western Conference teams. See for yourself which conference is......

In the final year of baseball in Yankee Stadium, the legendary park will host the 2008 All-Star Game. In its 45th and final year, what does Shea Stadium get? A commemorative logo from the New York Mets. Fitting for the multi-purpose stadium that is a relic of the 1960s. Today, the Mets, the stadium's primary occupant since it opened in 1964, unveiled a logo that players will wear on their sleeves during the 2008 season.......

There's one member of the Mets that is up for the Hall of Fame today. The Mascot Hall of Fame, that is. The round-headed ball of a mascot is trailing by about 5,500 votes in the race for popularity on the Mascot Hall of Fame website. He trails The Coyote, the mascot of the San Antonio Spurs. The Post pulls out all the stops to make sure Mr. Met is the top vote getter.......

Yesterday at Yankee Stadium, Major League Baseball unveiled the logo for its 2008 All-Star Game. Mayor Bloomberg was on hand to unveil the logo along with baseball officials, former Yankee players (including Yankees legend Yogi Berra) and current Yankees Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui. The 2008 Midsummer Classic will take place on Tuesday, July 15. The logo, pictured at right, features the historic facade of Yankee Stadium, which will be in its final season,......

Mets 6, Pirates 3: Tom Glavine picked up his 299th career win by taking advantage of a rare night of productivity from Paul Lo Duca. A start after wilting despite having a 6-0 lead before he threw a pitch, Glavine shut down the Pirates at Shea. Lo Duca entered the game with a .312 on-base percentage and a .357 slugging average, and, despite the Mets' laughable efforts to have him elected to the All-Star Game,......

Mets 2, Reds 1: On a night when the Mets honored one member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, a future member inched closer to the 300 win milestone. It was Ralph Kiner Night at Shea Stadium and the Mets announced that their broadcast booth at Citi Field will bear the broadcaster's name. The TV booth at Shea is already named after Kiner, who played in the Majors for 13 seasons, mostly with the Pittsburgh......

Jose Reyes did all he could for the National League in Tuesday's All-Star Game in San Francisco, but his team was still undone by the American League's best. Reyes played eight innings, had three hits and a run scored, but that wasn't enough. Perhaps his best performance came when he pulled back his fist from Carlos Beltran and David Wright during the pregame introductions. Billy Wagner's performance might have been the most damaging. The Mets......

As baseball takes it's yearly break to play a somewhat meaningless game, there was so much mutual respect between Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez that we almost think that Barry and A-Rod should get a room. With Bonds on the verge of Hank Aaron’s record of 755 career home runs, Bonds said that when Rodriguez breaks his in the future, he'll be there. “And when you do, you don’t have to worry about calling......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: American Body Shop (Sunday, 10:00 p.m., Comedy Central) A spoof of the fakeality vehicle tweaking genre with former NYC Transit cop John DiResta as part of the ensemble cast. World Series of Pop Culture (Monday, 9:00 p.m. VH1) NY1's Pat Kieran hosts this trivia battle royal show starting its second season. The Bronx is Burning (Monday, 10:00 p.m., ESPN) The first part of an eight part miniseries......

After the Post went for the jugular with its "Stray-Rod" cover, the floodgates of gossip about the Yankees third baseman (and the leading vote-getter for the All-Star Game so far) have opened. The Daily News talks to some strippers and "strip club insiders" about A-Rod preferences. He allegedly followed one "well-toned, muscular" stripper named Monique from the VIP Club to the Hustler Club. However, another Hustler Club stripper says that Rodriguez would bring wife Cynthia......

The first release numbers for All-Star Game balloting was released yesterday for the National League and four Mets are leading in the yearly popularity contest. Jose Reyes, David Wright, Paul Lo Duca, and Carlos Beltran lead at their respective positions, with Beltran as the leading vote-getter in the National League across all positions. Reyes and Wright made their first appearances at the "Midsummer Classic" last season, while Lo Duca is a four-time All Star and......

Last month, Jason Kidd filed for divorce from his wife, Joumana, citing extreme cruelty. The Nets point guard claimed his wife kicked and punched him, as well as put tracking devices on his cars and computers, not to mention taunted him during games. The Kidds' relationship had its patches and other allegations of spousal abuse - back in 2001, Joumana Kidd had some called 911 while Kidd played for the Phoenix Suns (she said......

In an effort to keep the United Nations in NYC, Mayor Bloomberg may revive an old plan to create more office space that could benefit both the U.N. and other city developers. The NY Sun reports that the plan would involve building "swing space" for the U.N. during the renovation of the Secretariat building. One possible place for the swing space: Long Island City. Picture it, ferries of U.N. employees across the East River! The......

For Yankee Stadium's last year - before a new park - Major League Baseball will be having the 2008 All Star Game in The House that Babe Built. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said, "One of the biggest factors was George Steinbrenner. He has made wonderful contributions to this city and to the Yankees. Clearly one of the primary factors was to honor the city, the franchise and George Steinbrenner." Man, Selig makes it sound......

Phoenix 112 New York 107: Don't let the score fool you,other than a forfeit, there was little chance the Knicks were ever going to win this game. The Suns are an offensive force and New York doesn’t play defense, so the result is no surprise. It’s what happened in the game that could change the rest of the season. Eddy Curry limped off the court and the season may have gone with him. At this......

The Giants made it official today, naming Jerry Reese Senior Vice-President and General Manager of the club. Reese had been in charge of player personnel and is probably most famous for insisting that the Giants select Osi Umenyiora in the second round of the 2003 draft. Besides the Umenyiora pick, Reese has been widely respected for his work in scouting and was considered in many circles as a potential GM for some time. Since......

-Eastern Conference 98, Western Conference 82: A day after the most popular All-Star Game in American sports, the WNBA's best took the floor at Madison Square Garden. Each year, the Wednesday following baseball's All-Star game is derided by sports fans as the worst day of the sports calendar. Despite the WNBA's efforts, Wednesday wasn't that exciting. The Liberty's Becky Hammon didn't play because of an injury. With the game out of reach in the final......

- American League 3, National League 2: The Mets' David Wright hit a home run and his teammate Carlos Beltran scored the second run, but Trevor Hoffman couldn't close the deal in the ninth inning, and the American League won another All-Star Game. The Yankees' Mariano Rivera earned another All-Star save. Everyone loves to point out that the AL has dominated the NL in Interleague Play, the World Series and All-Star Games over the......

Hmm. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is going around the country to help raise money for other Republican candidates. The AP reports that he was in Cleveland for Senator Mike DeWine last night, and today, he'll be in Arkansas for Asa Hutchinson (running for governor) as well as in Pennsylvania for Senator Rick Santorum and the All-Star Game. Then tomorrow he'll be at fundraisers for Lynn Swann, running for governor of Pennsylvania, and Maryland Governor Robert......

The Brooklyn teen who was found with a fatal stab wound in a Crown Heights elevator turns out to have been stabbed by his best friend. And it was all over the NBA All Star Game. Naquan Butts turned himself into the police yesterday, saying that he and Michael Bethune had argued over their All Star Game bets (they were watching the game with friends at Butts's apartment) when, somehow, the "trash talk turned physical"......

The Knicks finally won something this season; unfortunately it was only the slam-dunk contest. Nate Robinson, only 5’9” provided a spectacular slam, soaring over the similarly vertically challenged (for the NBA) Spud Webb to force the first ever dunk off. It took him 13 tries, but Robinson executed a nifty pass between the legs/throw off the backboard slam to win the contest. New York can only hope that Robinson does not follow the career path......

A baseball All-Star game was played in Brooklyn Tuesday night for the first time since 1949 and while it wasn’t major leaguers playing; the Class A players of the Mets and Yankees did quite well on their own. Over 9,000 fans, the second most ever to attend a game at Keyspan Park, saw the National Legue defeat the American League 5-4. Local teams were well represented, sending seven players to the game and the manager......

- The Yankees and Mets reach mid-season, which can only mean a first half recap for the Yankees and for the Mets. It also means, All-Star Game action. - A blackout in Greece, which doesn't bode well for the Olympics. - It may be the off-season, but there is plenty of NBA news: the Knicks are active, but the Nets are in jeopardy after losing Kenyon Martin. If that's not enough sports action for......

Prior to the Home Run Derby during last night's All-Star festivities, Jack McKeon and Joe Torre announced their starting lineups for tonight's game. Starting at catcher for the National League team will be Mets catcher Mike Piazza and three players for the Yankee infield will start for the American League - Alex Rodriguez at 3rd, Derek Jeter at shortstop and Jason Giambi at first base. There is a distinct Yankee flavor on the team -......

At the start of the season, Mets owner Fred Wilpon was hoping to play "meaningful games" and after 87 games, Wilpon can say the Mets have played several meaningful games and it looks like they will play more to come. The Mets are currently in 4th place in the NL East, but trail the first place Phillies by only two games. With Atlanta, the former juggernaut of the division, and Florida, the reigning World Series......

In what has become the norm, Tom Glavine pitched a gem last night against Cincinati only to lose the game. Glavine allowed 2 runs and 7 hits over 6 innings. His major league leading ERA "jumped" to 2.16 from 2.11 because there was no support from the Mets offense. The Mets managed only 4 off the Reds in the 2-0 loss (box score). One hit ironically came from Glavine on an infield single. It seems......

Find out what it means to Tha D. Red Auerbach is safe. Coming into the NBA Finals the old Celtics codger and the Zen Master both had coached their teams to nine championships and the general consensus was that the Lakers would give Phil Jackson number 10. That however was not to be as the Pistons thoroughly dominated the Lakers, winning this year�s NBA Finals in five games. Instead of focusing on where the Lakers......

- We think up some names for the planned Jets Stadium. - Gothamist Sports launches, to a rousing chorus of cheers. - Derek Jeter is back to being himself at the plate. - The potential teammates - Clemens and Piazza in the All-Star Game. - Farewell to Warner Wolf. - The Giants sign former MVP Kurt Warner. Naturally, the week in full.......