Yankees officer Randy Levine steps from the shadows to the marketplace.

When captain (cricket followers: the designation of “captain” on a baseball team is not part of the structure of the sport, it is a symbolic overture) Derek Jeter publicly stated he could understand where long-time teammate and “brother” Jorge Posada was coming from in removing himself from the lineup his manager had made out, perhaps without an injury of the magnitude that normally would have kept him from playing, the Yankee front office did what it usually does. It flipped. As reported on the New York Yankees website, the executive folk all bent out of shape with Jeter’s freedom-of-speech-guaranteed-by-the-U.S. Constitution observation included Brian Cashman, Randy Levine, and Hal Steinbrenner. “We’re all on the same page now.” Sure . . . . Posada is sitting out another game. “As we would have sat Georgie out today anyway: in Tampa, where the Yankees train in winter and have their corporate offices, against the team that plays there all the time and is in first place several games ahead of us.” Uh-hunnh.