I’m sitting here writing this on my iBook as I watch the Red Sox beat on the Yankees 9-0 in the bottom of the 6th.

OK, now it’s 9-1.

It’s heartening that Pedro is looking a lot more Pedro-like tonight. They are going to need him this month if they’re going to get into the post-season.

What pact did Enrique Wilson make with the devil to give him such success against Pedro.?The guy is 10 for 20 against Martinez lifetime. He’s a .252 lifetime hitter against the rest of the universe. 2-for-3 against him tonight, and then he hits into a double play off Sauerbeck. I just don’t get it.

I recently read two of the worst sports books I’ve picked up in a while. The first was “When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!” by Yogi Berra. It was filled with a bunch of Yogi’s famed quotes and then some background on how the quote applied to Yogi’s life and how they can be applied to your life and career. It was basically pretty boring. Yogi’s thoughts on life really aren’t all that interesting. It was mercifully short, though. The book was only about 150 pages long, although the price of the book was $16.95. Fortunately, I got it out of the library.

The second lousy book I’ve read is Chris “Mad Dog” Russo’s “100 Greatest Sports Arguments of All Time” Russo is a talk-show host on New York’s all-sports station, WFAN. He lists what he thinks are the 100 greatest sports arguments and his opinion on each. He takes on such burning issues such as the five greatest female tennis players of all time. The only thing I cared less about than that were Mad Dog’s opinions on practically anything in the book.

Offsetting the bad are two wonderful sports books I read this summer: “The Teammates” by David Halberstam and “The Last Commissioner” by Fay Vincent. “The Teammates” is about the half-century long friendship among Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Dom DiMaggio and Bobby Doerr. This book came out of the final trip that DiMaggio and Pesky (along with radio personality Dick Flavin) took down to Florida to visit Ted before he passed away. The thing that made it even more fun for me was the fact that Flavin had described the trip to Florida at Ted Williams memorial service at Fenway last summer. I distinctly remember thinking that the story would make a great book. Halberstam is one of my favorite authors and the book does not disappoint.

The Fay Vincent book was more of a surprise. I thought Vincent did a decent job as Commissioner of Baseball after Bart Giamatti’s demise, but I had no idea of the kind of obstacles many of the owners put in his way. It’s a great read about his life, his relationship with his father, the Pete Rose situation and his time as Commissioner just before the 1994 strike.

All right, since I’m compiling my summer reading list, I’ll add one non-sports recommendation. “Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams and Jefferson and the American Revolution” is a fascinating look at three of the most important figures in American history. It compares and contrasts our first three presidents life experiences, commitment to the revolutionary cause and stands on the important issues of the day, with a particular emphasis on slavery (both Washington and Jefferson were slave owners). If you enjoy reading about history at all, this one is worth picking up.

OK, I’m done and Scott Sauerbeck just struggled through the last of the 7th. He’s been a disappointment since he came over. The guy really needs to throw more strikes. He seems to be getting down 2-0, 3-1 constantly. Sox still lead 9-3, though.