In Rudy's Playground

For the mayor's second annual Baseball Is for Kids outing to Shea Stadium, unbearable heat gave way to a bright, clear sunshiny day. While Hillary was visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Rudy was doing the real thing, shouting, "Let's play ball!" to a group of children who swamped the mayor for autographs on their baseballs and shirts. Maybe it was all those free tickets he was giving away, or maybe it was this kinder, gentler version of Rudy, tossing grounders to the kids and giving them a chance to bat, that won them over. Mets' co-owner Fred Wilpon, who went to college on a baseball scholarship and has a mean arm, engaged the mayor in a pitching matchup, hurling a hardball at him, moving back farther and farther, throwing harder and harder, showing his stuff. But there wasn't anything Rudy couldn't catch and return just as well. Wilpon was the first to miss. You could almost hear Rudy saying to Hillary, "Batter up!"