• Last night the Yankees baseball team won the competition that determines the best baseball team of all the other baseball teams! [New York Times]
• 600 UN staffers in Afghanistan will leave the country for a few weeks while the UN works to find them housing that will be harder to blow up. [Washington Post]
• Hurricane Ida is currently in the midst of hitting Nicaragua. It’s expected to bring with it 25 inches of rain, mudslides, all the tradition hurricane accoutrement, etc. [CNN]
• Exxon Mobil and Shell have won the World Series of receiving the rights to oil fields in southern Iraq! The Phillies did not win this either. [WSJ]
• Cash bonuses on Wall Street will be up 40% this year. [Reuters]
• Later this week, Toyota will be sending out a drivers’ mat recall, as the acceleration pedal can get caught in drivers’ mats in certain models. [Los Angeles Times]

More than a few jaws dropped Tuesday when Rudy Giuliani, who once entertained thoughts of working for the Yankees organization and is close friends with former manager Joe Torre, said he was behind the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. Sure, we understand the need for the bullshit stump speech, but Giuliani, who comes from a long line of New York thugs and mobsters, has now decided to shit on the chests of all New Yorkers. MORE »

* America’s mayor took some pretty shiny payola from America’s team. [Political Wire]
* Lack of a major league club in Jersey just means they hand him an envelope stuffed with electoral delegates instead. [Atlantic Online]
* James Sensenbrenner: still the biggest asshole on The Hill. [TPM Muckraker]
* Tom Tancredo’s failures as a presidential candidate contribute to already substantial failures as a congressman. [Denver Post]
* Terrorists continue to target nations’ hand-release infrastructure. [Passport]
* Intelligence agencies maintain “it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission.” [Secrecy News]
* Fox News wrongly accused Hillary Clinton of only recently starting to dress badly. [Media Matters]

The American political elite are enviable in so many ways. Doesn’t everyone wish they had a really good-looking family, like Dick Gephardt’s? Or a culturally sensitive patriarch, like Karl Rove? Perhaps there is more admiration for our great athletes — like Yankees players Mike Mussina and Alex Rodriguez, who both have tons of fans — even if Jeff Gannon isn’t one. In any case, just sit back and have a beer like Tim Russert, or go Patrick Kennedy-style with an iced tea — there’s lots more wonk’d after the jump.

There’s no way that baseball hats and sunglasses can keep any celebs from getting wonk’d by you hardworking tipsters. Once you’ve discovered their charade, email us, with “Wonk’d” or “Sighting” in the subject line (and the name of the “brity” that should have known better). You keep a sendin’, we’ll keep a postin’, and they’ll keep pretendin’ to be surprised when they’re spotted.

MORE »

• Reliable Source: Dick and Lynne Cheney, Stephen Breyer, and Karen Hughes attend book party for Elizabeth Ironside hosted by her husband, British Ambassador Sir David Manning. . . Offices of Mary Bono (R-Calif.) and Connie Mack (R-Fla.) deny congressional romance. [WP]
• Under the Dome: Some blame Hillary for “Carpetbagger Curse” on the Yankees. . . Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) fits into Democratic gala by dancing. . . Former aide to Wellstone will publish guide for progressive candidates. [The Hill]
• Inside Politics: Prosecutors lack physical evidence for money-laundering charge against DeLay. . . National Review calls for Miers to withdraw her nomination. [WT]