This it it: I have tried to maintain a certain degree of poise and charity despite the fact that Pope Benedict XVI is celebrating Mass on Sunday at Yankee Stadium (altar mock-up at right) and ignoring Shea. Full disclosure: I am a lifelong Mets fan. That is my pride, and, of late, my shame. But now Cardinal Egan rubs salt in the wounds, telling the Daily News that he’s a convert and that the Yanks are “the greatest baseball club in the world.” Moreover, the Chicago native has apostasized, dumping the Cubs: “I was a Cubs fan all my life until I came to New York and was converted,” said Egan.

Yes, Benedict will be celebrating Mass at Nationals Stadium first, in DC. (I’ll be there, too, with live coverage.) But does anyone really think a man such as Benedict, with his great respect for Tradition, would be happy granting an imprimatur to an AL team that uses the designated hitter? That’s a Protestant innovation if I ever saw one. Someone better get to His Holiness…