from the New York Daily News

During the middle game of the Yankees' recent series at hitter-happy Coors Field, Joe Torre came out to remove reliever Mike Stanton and bring in Steve Karsay. The game was tight, lots of runs had already scored. More were on the way.

The Yankee infielders gathered around the mound, like they always do, and Stanton gave Torre the ball and walked to the dugout.

But Karsay didn't immediately arrive. Third baseman Robin Ventura, always ready with a quip, said: "Joe, are you sure you had someone warming up?"

The manager, who is mostly stone-faced during games, cracked a wide grin. Tension broken, another highlight for Ventura in a season that has been stuffed with them.

"He can always elevate a mood, even in a dark moment," Torre said.

In fact, Ventura's good humor has been nearly as valuable as the home runs he's hitting at a career-best tempo, Torre and several players said.

Which means the laughs have been pretty impressive — Ventura is headed for perhaps the best power season by a third-baseman in Yankee history. Coming off two subpar seasons in a row for the Mets, Ventura is hitting .253 and is on pace for 41 homers and 112 RBI.

Graig Nettles holds the team marks, having hit 37 homers and knocked in 107 runs in 1977.

Ventura has been perceived as a rent-a-player, keeping third base warm for prospect Drew Henson. But could the Yankees really let the free-agent-to-be to leave if he puts up those numbers? Couldn't Henson use another season in the minors?

The Yankees aren't saying. It's too early to get into contract talk, if that is their plan. All the Yanks GM, Brian Cashman, will say is, "I hope he makes our decision very difficult."

Ventura says he doesn't think about next season, either. The Yankees explained their plans after the trade, saying, "We got you for this year, we're very excited. Henson's in Triple-A."

"I don't have a problem with that," Ventura said. "I enjoy it here, but you don't get to play forever. They look at who and how long.

"To me, it's more about today. I realize this is probably better than they thought I'd do, but I don't sit and think about it. I think they probably wanted .270, 20 homers, 80-something RBI.

"It could go straight downhill, could go better, could stay the same. At the end of the year, I'll know where I'm at. Nothing is guaranteed — words to live by."

What about an All-Star appearance? Ventura is second in the voting behind Boston's Shea Hillenbrand, but trails by only 38,511 votes. Ventura has been to one All-Star Game, in 1992. Torre, who will pick this year's reserves, hedged, saying, "There are some pretty good third basemen. He's one of them, of course."

"I usually make plans for that weekend," Ventura said. "Last year, we went to Martha's Vineyard. This year, I had plans before the season even started, but I'm not telling what they are."

What if he's chosen? "Then I don't go on vacation."

Ventura's numbers read .232-21-61 for the Mets last season and he did a lot of work in the offseason, though he says the performance wasn't a motivation. "This is motivation in here," he said, gesturing around the clubhouse.

He didn't have to do any preparation for keeping the clubhouse atmosphere light.

"Part of it is that I've been on teams that have been really young, even when I was young," he said. "The last few years I was with the White Sox, we had very young pitchers and I did it a lot there. It's my personality, anyway. I don't consciously do it. It's more of a character flaw," he added, laughing.

Ventura does it on the mound or on the bench. Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre recalled watching him shrug off high-fives in the dugout after making a diving stop. "Guys were saying, 'Great catch' and he said, 'Oh, I just got in the way of the ball,'" Stottlemyre said.

"I played at the end of my career with Graig Nettles and he had a similar dry sense of humor. I know at times he'd say things and you'd have to step off the mound and laugh and I know it relaxed me."

Ventura can also laugh at himself. During the Colorado series, they showed video of him charging the mound against Nolan Ryan and getting pummeled. Ryan got him in a headlock and punched him repeatedly.

A hoot went up among the Yankee players. "Where's Robin?" several shrieked. Ventura walked into the room and teammates said, "Robin, Robin," and were pointing at the screen.

"Tell me," Ventura said, a smile growing on his face. "It's not like I haven't heard it before."