WADA you doing, WADA?

It didn't mark the first such sneak attack, and it almost certainly won't be the last.

On Thursday, out of nowhere, World Anti-Doping Agency president John Fahey tossed a salvo toward Major League Baseball, urging the game's powers and players to agree to a blood test for human growth hormone.

Outraged by Fahey's attempt to stake the moral high ground, I reached out to Manhasset's Gary Wadler, who is the chairman of WADA's Prohibited List and Methods Sub-Committee.

The affable Wadler urged me not to get caught up in the personalities, and to remember the importance of having a clean game. "I think you need rules," he said. "If you don't have detection and deterrence, then it's every man for himself. It becomes about who has the best chemist. You can throw out sports as we know it."

I asked Wadler when sports hasn't been about who has the best chemist. After all, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays used amphetamines in their day, and somehow baseball survived. And surely, even as HGH tests are instituted in the Olympics, the athletes and their chemists are coming up with new illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

"It's a very tough issue," Wadler said. "There are no quick solutions."

Wadler deserves better than having to defend like Fahey, who conveniently ignored the realities that 1) WADA has caught exactly one athlete with its HGH test, which detects the drug only when it has been taken within the last 36 hours; and 2) HGH by itself doesn't accomplish a great deal, so detecting it isn't as urgent as you might think. It needs to be combined with steroids, and MLB already tests for steroids.

New York, New York

What the heck. In honor of "The Lineup," a show on Newsday's corporate sibling MSG Network detailing the all-time New York baseball team, here's one person's ballot:

Yogi Berra at catcher, Lou Gehrig at first base, Jackie Robinson at second base, Derek Jeter at shortstop, Graig Nettles at third base, Rickey Henderson in leftfield, Willie Mays in centerfield, Babe Ruth in rightfield and Reggie Jackson at designated hitter.

A starting rotation of Tom Seaver, Christy Mathewson, Whitey Ford, Carl Hubbell and Andy Pettitte. And Mariano Rivera, of course, as the closer.

Washington trouble

Concern exists throughout the industry about Ron Washington, the well-liked

Rangers manager who confirmed Sports Illustrated's report that he failed a test for cocaine last season. If Texas gets off to a poor start, Washington could find himself in quick trouble.

It can only hurt, let's face it, that Washington works in one of the game's more conservative markets. You wouldn't expect the majority of the Rangers' fan base to be particularly supportive of Washington's indiscretion.

Washington's biggest problem, however, could be team president Nolan Ryan, who came aboard after Texas general manager Jon Daniels hired Washington and is on record as saying the Rangers should win 92 games this year.

Extra bases

With John Smoltz taking on two broadcasting jobs, with the MLB Network and TBS, you'd have to bet on the righthander not pitching again. Most players who have returned at midseason, such as Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez, stayed out of the limelight and focused on conditioning.

Beloved singer Frankie Valli has taped the role of Phil Rizzuto for "Henry & Me," the animated film based on stories by Yankees adviser Ray Negron.