Keyboard Quarterbacks

By Mark La Monica

The Rangers are in the NHL playoffs for the first time since 1997. The Knicks stink and their season will mercifully come to an end on Wednesday night, and Stephon Marbury has promised to dish the dirt on locker room clean-out day. The Jets have the No. 4 pick in the draft in two weeks.

But first and foremost, New York is a baseball town. No matter how good or bad any other professional sports team in the Big Apple is, New Yorkers breathe baseball.

We’re still in that part of the season where 3-for-4 at the plate can boost a player’s batting average 58 points in three hours, as was the case with the Yankees’ Jason Giambi on Sunday.

We’re still in that part of the season where one scoreless inning of relief can lower a pitcher’s earned run average by 4.21 in five minutes, as was the case with the Mets’ Jorge Julio on Sunday.

It is way too early to overreact to anything that has happened in New York baseball, and there is certainly no reason to include wild card standings in the agate pages, as one New York tabloid in particular does.

There’s a cliché out there for baseball, something about a really, really long running race compared with a really, really short running race.

But there is much to appreciate through the first two weeks here in New York.

The Mets just keep scoring runs and getting good starting pitching. Even Victor Zambrano, a favorite whipping boy for all Mets fans, threw five serviceable innings this past week for the win.

Unfolding before Mets fans’ eyes is the burgeoning superstar that is David Wright. There’s nothing like a young, superbly talented player performing exceptionally well to ignite a fan base. Mets fans are experiencing what Yankees fans did in 1996 with Derek Jeter.

Through Sunday’s games, the Mets possess the best record in baseball at 9-2. For a franchise that has tumbled since reaching the 2000 World Series, every early win provides more hope that those dark days of 66-95 in 2003 are as much a memory as using a walkman to listen to music.

They are an intriguing bunch of players to watch right now as they attempt to rise from the ashes of the NL East. Big offense. Deep lineup. Good defense. Nice rotation. Good closer. All of that makes this week’s three-game series with longtime nemesis Atlanta even more compelling. A series win here and the Mets can legitimize their hot start and give fans something tangible to cling to as the remaining 91 percent of the season plays out.

Across the river in the Bronx, the Yankees are more compelling when they struggle early. It’s a natural byproduct of extended winning, which is what the franchise has done since 1995. (Just ask the Atlanta Braves, which have won 14 straight division titles and now barely fill their ballpark for the first round of the playoffs.)

In the first dozen games of the season, the Yankees have either raked or flaked. The offense either exploded for 10 runs and the team won. Or they looked like Pedro Cerrano trying to hit a curveball in the first half of “Major League” and the team lost.

It’s not exactly the most comforting way to play the game for a manager or anyone else who relies on George Steinbrenner for their income. But such momentum swings with a $200 million investment makes for great entertainment.