Zimmer puts it all in perspective

Former Yankees coach Don Zimmer, now an aide to Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella, has another book out, “The Zen of Zim: Baseballs, Beanballs and Bosses.”

Zim is critical of Yankees’ owner George Steinbrenner, but a more interesting passage concerns what happened after Game 3 of the ALCS when he charged Pedro Martinez.

Zimmer writes he was embarrassed by the incident, which he repeatedly called foolish. He reveals that after leaving the hospital , Zim and his wife, Soot, went to Boston’s Capital Grille at around 10 p.m. to meet the rest of his family. As he worked his way through the restaurant, he was greeted first by Red Sox reliever Todd Jones, who had tried to console Zimmer on the field, and then by knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

“I finally got to my table,” Zim writes, “and the waiter comes over and says, ‘The guy over there wants to buy a bottle of wine for you.’ I looked over to where he was pointing, and it was Wakefield, who was smiling and waving to me again. ‘Tell him, no thanks, I’d rather have the cash.’ … A few minutes later, Wakefield walks over to my table and hands me his wallet!

“The next day, Pedro sent word to me that he wanted to apologize. I said, ‘What does he have to apologize for? I was the guy who charged him and threw the punch.’ To people who said Pedro beat up an old man I said, no, an old man was dumb enough to try and beat up on Pedro.”

Beltran leaves game with injured knee

Carlos Beltran bruised his left knee crashing into the center-field wall and left Kansas City’s game against the New York Mets.

Beltran was hurt chasing Mike Piazza’s two-run homer in the fourth and left the game after the fifth inning. The Royals said Beltran was day to day.

Beltran is eligible for free agency after the season and has been the subject of trade speculation.

The Royals designated outfielders Brandon Berger and Wilton Guerrero for assignment and purchased the contracts of infielder Damian Jackson and outfielder Dee Brown.

Sosa begins rehab assignment

Sammy Sosa hit an RBI single off the center-field wall for the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx as he began a three-day rehabilitation assignment with the Chicago Cubs’ Double-A affiliate at Jackson, Tenn.

Sosa has been on the disabled list since May 16 with a sprained ligament in his lower back brought on by two sneezes.

He was pulled from the lineup after a rain delay of nearly 2 hours.

“I feel great,” Sosa said. “I felt kind of funny the first at-bat. I was seeing the ball pretty good. I need to see for myself and find out how my back feels. And, you know, I think I’m on my way to the major leagues.”

Rivera has tightness in back; Sturtze to start

Add closer Mariano Rivera to the list of ailing star pitchers on the New York Yankees’ staff.

Rivera was unavailable to pitch Sunday in the Yankees’ 6-5, 12-inning victory over the San Diego Padres.

“I was not going to use Mo today,” manager Joe Torre said. “He was a little uncomfortable. He had a little tightness in his back.”

Torre and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre weren’t too worried about Rivera.

“I would be surprised if he’s not ready to go Tuesday,” Torre said.

The Yankees are also down two starters. Kevin Brown and Mike Mussina were both hurt this week and are limited to playing catch.

Tanyon Sturtze will make his first start for the Yankees on Wednesday.

Manager Joe Torre made the decision Sunday after putting it off for several days. Torre wanted to see how Brown’s troublesome back responded to treatment since he had to leave his outing after two ineffective innings Wednesday against Colorado.