Davidoff: With A-Rod, the play's the thing

Ramiro Peña was shagging fly balls in rightfield when everything changed.

"I have to be ready all of the time," said the Yankees' utilityman, who has the least amount of job security of anyone in yesterday's Bronx tale - and performed the best at his job.

Freak accidents happen in baseball. Maybe it's the New York bias in me, but this stuff seems to carry far greater entertainment value with the Yankees and Mets.

So even though CC Sabathia led the Yankees to a textbook 5-2 victory over the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, increasing their AL East lead to 11/2 games over Tampa Bay, the greater intrigue surrounded Lance Berkman's batting-practice smash that sent Alex Rodriguez to the ground and sidelined him with a contusion of his lower left leg.

It appears that A-Rod avoided serious injury, although from the way he spoke after the game, another day of rest Sunday seems like a safe bet.

If that's all, however, then even the Yankees can appreciate a good saga, with an impressive array of characters:

The victim. A-Rod, participating in an "infield in" exercise, took Berkman's shot and hopped for a few feet, from third base toward centerfield, before collapsing behind a protective net in centerfield. He remained on the ground in pain as Yankees trainer Gene Monahan and two paramedics rushed onto the field to treat him.

"I just remember getting hit," A-Rod said. "It was like a scene from 'Platoon.' " Although when A-Rod limped off the field without help, you figured this wasn't too serious.

The celebrity. Of course, with A-Rod, it's never as simple as it first seems. It turned out that just before he suffered his injury, he shouted hello to Fox broadcaster Joe Buck, who was nearby.

To be fair, I saw the play, and it's not as though A-Rod turned away to talk to Buck. Nevertheless, we all know about A-Rod's addiction to those who possess fame and power - just ask Warren Buffett - so it seems fitting.

"I just said hello to Joe for one second," A-Rod said.

"It was just a convergence of events," Buck told Newsday's Laura Albanese. "I am glad that he's going to be OK and he's day-to-day.''

The villain. Man, oh man, Berkman has not had it easy since he joined the Yankees July 31. What's next? Is he going to trip over the George Steinbrenner statue and break it?

"I was like, 'Berkman's contributions to the Yankees so far have been, you know, not the greatest,' '' Berkman said before the game.

Then he went 0-for-3 with a walk, making him 2-for-22 as a Yankee, and drew boos during the game.

"Hey, this is a big boy's game and place to play," Berkman said. "If you can't handle a little bit of that, then just go home and hang it up. I know it's not personal."

The understudy-turned-hero. We're overselling Peña's contributions a little, but as A-Rod's replacement at third base, hitting ninth, he drove in two runs with a second-inning groundout and sixth-inning single.

"For what he's doing, it's pretty amazing," Joe Girardi said.

The Greek chorus. OMG, did the Yankees not exhibit sympathy toward their highest-paid teammate. You could see Derek Jeter and others laughing as A-Rod writhed on the ground.

"He got hit," the cold-blooded captain said. "He's always like that when he gets hit."

"Jeter and [Mark] Teixeira were making fun of me back [in the clubhouse], like I went down for the count," Rodriguez said. "I'm glad they all got a great laugh out of it."

A-Rod can do comedy, drama, suspense. The supporting cast was spectacular, too. What more could you want from a day at the ballpark?