(above : bona fide big leaguer advises a couple of kids that if they’re lucky enough to grow up to become position players….stay the fuck off his lawn!)

It takes some doing to swipe attention from a missed extra point being all that separated the Steelers Pirates from a 3 touchdown defeat, never mind a triple play being pulled off by the Yankees in Oakland. However, another incident from the latter contest will undoubtedly be hotly debated on Tony Page’s show late tonight, if not an entire succession of ESPN talking heads tomorrow morning and afternoon.  The LoHud Journal’s Chad Jennings details Thursday’s dispute between New York 3B Alex Rodriguez and A’s starter Dallas Braden in the middle of Oakland’s 4-2 victory.

“He just told me to get off his mound,” Rodriguez said. “I was a little surprised. I’d never quite heard that. Especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career.”

The whole thing started when Rodriguez went from first to third on a foul ball by Robinson Cano. On his way back to first, Rodriguez ran across the pitcher™s mound, which Braden saw as a sign of disrespect.

“I don’t care if I’m Cy Young or the 25th man on the roster, if I’ve got the ball in my hand and I’m on that mound, that’s my mound, Braden said. “He ran across the pitcher’s mound foot on my rubber. No, not happening. W’™re not the door mat anymore.”

“He should maybe watch his Captain a little more often,” Braden said.

Rodriguez said he had never heard the unwritten rule that a player shouldn’t run across the mound. When Braden started yelling at him, Rodriguez didn’t know what it was about. “I thought it was pretty funny, actually,” Rodriguez said.

The Star-Ledger’s Marc Craig collected a few month priceless quotes from Braden, who more than earned himself a bunch of new fans in the past 12 hours.

“He’s right, I don’t even have a handful of wins,” said Braden, who improved to 3-0 this season, career victory No. 17. “I have three. Do the math A-Rod.”

“I don’t go over there and run laps at third base. I don’t go over there. I don’t spit over there. I don’t spit over there. I stay away. You guys ever see anybody run across the mound like that? He ran across the pitcher’s mound, foot on my rubber. No. Not flyin.”