A columnist for the Post since November 2002, Mike Vaccaro has reported from four Olympics, 12 World Series, 10 Super Bowls, eight Final Fours and five U.S. Opens, among the hundreds of events he has covered in his 20-year newspaper career. His "Open Mike" and "Vac’s Whacks" are regular Sunday features, and he has written three books, the latest -- "The First Fall Classic," about the 1912 World Series between the Giants and Red Sox -- is out Oct. 6.
Visit Mike's BlogATLANTA — There would be no time for babying, for coddling, for pampering. This was adult swim time, deep end of the water, and Terry Collins wanted to see what Zack Wheeler could do with his tank running low and the... June 19, 2013
From MetsATLANTA — If he’s lucky, the innings will speed past in a blur across the next 12 or 15 years, starts and seasons blending into one another except for the important games, the unforgettable outings, the forever... June 18, 2013
From MetsNobody is ever owed a thing in professional sports, a lesson that’s been hammered home for as long as there have been men taking money to play games from men who pay them to play those games. Babe Ruth wanted to manage... June 16, 2013
From More SportsHe Wasn’t going to turn into Jimmy Kimmel overnight, OK? Jason Kidd has spent a professional lifetime actively keeping his basketball commentaries drab, beige and safe. He finds a money quote, one that draws laughs, he... June 14, 2013
From NetsSon of a gun. They really did it. The Nets are really going to introduce Jason Kidd this afternoon at 2 p.m. at Barclays Center. They really are going to reach back to the most glorious moments of their NBA history, to... June 13, 2013
From NetsSon of a gun. They really did it. The Nets are really going to introduce Jason Kidd Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Barclays Center. They really are going to reach back to the most glorious moments of their NBA history,... June 13, 2013
From NetsThe locker is still here. It hasn’t been preserved for eternity the way the Yankees kept a shrine for Thurman Munson — another guy who used to wear No. 15 — at the old Stadium. Ryan Quigley, a 23-year-old kicker out of... June 12, 2013
From JetsThe first reaction is probably this: Why? Why would the Nets entrust what they believe to be a contending core to a pair of hands and a set of eyes that have never coached a minute of basketball at any level before? Why... June 11, 2013
From NetsMaybe you will tell me I’m wrong. Maybe you’ll tell me there is as much dislike and distaste in your heart now as there was almost three years ago, when three freshly signed members of the Miami Heat declared, before... June 09, 2013
From More SportsThis was probably the equivalent of catching the Beatles in the Star-Club in Hamburg in the early 1960s, when they were still bound in leather jackets and greasy Elvis pompadours, a few dozen German kids dancing to the... June 04, 2013
From KnicksThe problem, of course, is that they could have waited out the rain, could have slogged until the middle of the night, waited for a break in the clouds, a break in the bleak, and the way the Yankees are hitting it might... June 03, 2013
From YankeesThis happens a lot: I will be driving to baseball games involving the Mets and the Yankees — or the occasional Jets-Giants football game, or a Nets-Knicks basketball game — and I will be on the telephone with my mother... June 02, 2013
From More SportsIt humbles you, this game. It hardens you. It tries to break your heart, this game, tries to vacuum your soul. It makes you feel invincible. Bulletproof, even. “Everyone goes through a stretch like this,” Joe Girardi... May 31, 2013
From YankeesTerry Collins, who’s as old school as rabbit ears on a television, wouldn’t betray the sanctity of his office, so what follows is a fair approximation of the conversations that took place with Ike Davis and Ruben Tejada... May 30, 2013
From MetsTerry Collins knew he was going to get some company. The Mets’ manager had sequestered himself in the video room a few steps down the hallway from the home team clubhouse, around the corner from his office, exiled there... May 29, 2013
From MetsFor A while there, the year 1965 was as popular as it had been since ... well, probably since 1965. Sixty-five was a good year if you were a Beatles fan (“Help” was one of the most popular flicks, and “Yesterday” was... May 28, 2013
From YankeesYou Can actually forget about him sometimes. That’s the pity of David Wright’s time with the Mets. That’s the pity of all these lost seasons piled up like cordwood, one on top of the other, stretched to the sky and... May 28, 2013
From MetsHere’s the thing: For argument’s sake, let’s assume the allegations now surrounding newly appointed Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann are true. The letter detailing her alleged abuses of power as women’s... May 27, 2013
From BasketballThere is an ongoing war I always fight when a game ends, when a season dies, when a championship run — no matter how flighty or fitful — reaches its end. In a lot of ways, it’s more compelling to write about the losing... May 26, 2013
From More SportsIf The Knicks were a blackjack hand, they’d be an 18. It’s a good hand, not a great hand. No matter what the dealer was showing, you’d get a chorus of groans if you decided to hit on it. The dealer would make sure you... May 22, 2013
From KnicksIt doesn’t settle easily, not for you, not for them. On a day when the Knicks wanted to be shooting around at their training headquarters in Westchester County, preparing for Game 7 against the Pacers — and beyond —... May 21, 2013
From KnicksHe was the first one who said it, whether or not he really believed it, or understood it. This was July 5, 2010, and Amar’e Stoudemire and the Knicks had just agreed to a five-year, $99.7 million, and Stoudemire,... May 20, 2013
From KnicksINDIANAPOLIS — The room was as quiet as you would want it to be. You weren’t suffering alone last night when the shots stopped falling and the season started sputtering and the game veered irretrievably south. Wherever... May 19, 2013
From KnicksINDIANAPOLIS — They are easy to identify, easy to spot. They are forever smiling, even on lousy weather days. They forever look refreshed, eager to share a joke or a good story, because they are constantly in a good... May 19, 2013
From More SportsINDIANAPOLIS — It’s hard to believe they can make an exact duplicate of what they got Thursday night. Thirty-four seconds into Game 5, Pablo Prigioni found Carmelo Anthony ducking into the lane, Anthony swished a 12... May 18, 2013
From KnicksAt the end, as the buzzer groaned and the fans exhaled, the teams walked in different directions, feeling very different emotions. The Knicks, clearly relieved, huddled in a prayer group, shook their heads as they... May 17, 2013
From More SportsThe urge, always, is to tinker. It’s what coaches do. Adjust here. Fine-tune there. Sometimes it pays huge dividends. More often, things that seem like good ideas in the darkened cocoon of a film room fail spectacularly... May 16, 2013
From KnicksINDIANAPOLIS — The most troubling part is how puzzled they all seem, bereft of answer and explanation. Three times now in four games — and, really, in three out of four quarters in the other one — the Knicks haven’t... May 15, 2013
From KnicksINDIANAPOLIS — We keep wondering how long the Mets can stay relevant, even as the losses mount, even as it becomes clear the non-Matt Harvey starts at Citi Field come June 1 might draw more pigeons than people. Except .... May 15, 2013
From MetsINDIANAPOLIS — Raymond Felton has spent most of his season reminding us why he was the perfect choice — really, the only choice — to fill the void left by the departure of Jeremy Lin. The two men might have posted... May 14, 2013
From Knicks