Retirement, or something, appears to be changing Sammy Sosa. He and wife, Sonia, were recently in Las Vegas for the Latin Grammys, which included a tribute on Wednesday to singer Juan Gabriel. Photogs caught the Sosas on the red carpet and Sonia looks fabulous as always. As for Sammy ... well, there's no getting around it, but Sammy looked kind of pale.

His skin is undeniably lighter than at any time since he broke into the majors in 1989. Is it an illness, or a condition such as Vitiligo, in which depigmentation occurs? Is Sammy just bleaching his skin for fashion's sake? (Heh, "just.")

I wonder if he is changing his look, simply because his eyes are a different color. Sammy was born with brown eyes. He's taken to wearing green contact lenses and, quite frankly, they are extremely creepy. Is he co-starring in the upcoming "Twilight" sequel? The plastic suit also bothers me, just because it does.

Sammy, who hasn't played since 2007, has been accused of using modern chemistry to help him attain 609 career homers — including three seasons of 60-plus. Perhaps he's turning to science to give him a different veneer as he approaches his 41st birthday. Below, check out a few comparison shots to judge for yourself.

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The World Series hasn't even been over a full two days, but baseball's hot stove has already bypassed the preheating stage.

Yes, feel the heat, folks.One day after the White Sox and Royals swapped Chris Getz(notes) and Josh Fields(notes) for Mark Teahen(notes), the Brewers have sent shortstop J.J. Hardy(notes) up I-94 for Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez(notes). 

Though he was once part of the franchise's foundation, Hardy struggled with the Brewers in 2009 and even earned a trip to the minor leagues in August. With young Alcides Escobar(notes) already tabbed as the Brewers' shortstop of the future, Hardy became expendable and he'll have a shot at becoming the productive shortstop the Twins are seemingly always searching for.

As for Gomez, he struggled at the plate in 2009, posting a dismal .623 OPS over 137 games. His promise comes in the fact that he plays great defense and will still only be 24 years old on Opening Day. He was the key prospect in the Johan Santana(notes) deal, but a crowded Twins outfield means that he'll have to try to realize that potential at Miller Park.

Initial edge: Minnesota gets the early win here as it adds a solid piece for 2010 and possibly eliminates the need of paying Orlando Cabrera(notes) to return. Meanwhile, the Brewers are still dealing with a raw commodity and the only currently visible benefit is that they could save money by not bringing back Mike Cameron(notes) to play center field.   

Yahoo! Sports MLB editor Steve Henson is checking in with periodic updates from today's Yankees victory parade in Manhattan.

11:22 a.m. ET Commerce has pretty much shut down in Lower Manhattan today. Thousands of members of the work force are showering ticker tape and toilet paper from their high-rise office windows all over the Yankees as the World Series champions and their families inch up Broadway from the U.S. Customs House on Battery Place to City Hall Park.

Kids all over the city who stayed up too late Wednesday night to watch their Yankees win the World Series skipped school Friday to catch a glimpse of their heroes riding in cars and pinstriped-themed floats that mostly New Jersey-based fans began assembling after the Yankees took a 3-games-to-1 lead over the Phillies.

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The New York Yankees have had 19 100-win seasons and 27 championships in the 109-year history of their franchise. The 2009 championship team marks the 11th time in franchise history that the team has won at least 103 games. It's the sixth of those eleven 103 victory-plus teams to go all the way.

The five winningest Yankee teams — 1927, 1932, 1939, 1961, and 1998 — all won between 106 and 114 games in the regular season and went a combined 27-3 in the postseason en route to five of the most famous championships in history. Their shadows loom large over all other Yankee teams, just as the Yankees themselves loom large over the rest of the league. Each had a run differential over 200 runs. The 1939 Yankees, behind Joe DiMaggio's first MVP campaign, had a mind-boggling run differential of 411 runs over 154 games, which translates to 2.7 runs per game and the top spot on ESPN's ranking of all the Yankee title teams. (The '09 squad is ranked 10th on that list.)

By contrast, the 2009 Yanks lost four playoff games in this postseason (which included two more rounds than the first four teams mentioned had to play). The '09 Yankee squad also finished second in baseball with a run differential of 162, exactly one run a game.

Good, of course, but not historic — it's only the 40th-best differential in Yankee history.

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With the World Series win in the bag, New York's late night television shows wasted no time in appropriating some of the Yankees stars for a ratings boost like the one Fox received. 

A couple of the clips from Thursday night are below and if you're a Yankees fan who can't get enough (or a non-Yankee fan who's already cringing) don't worry: This is only the start.

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UPDATE: Drug possession charges against Lincecum have been dropped in "a standard deal" usually made for any "Joe Blow."  The pitcher will pay a $250 fine for possession of a marijuana pipe and a $122 ticket for the speeding charge.

* * *

Something had to break us out of our intense World Series focus, so it might as well be a report that Tim Lincecum(notes) was cited for marijuana possession in Washington state on Oct. 30.

Tim Lincecum was busted for pot? Of course Tim Lincecum was busted for pot. I mean, you hate to stereotype here, but we're talking about the guy who dresses like this, fantasizes about stockpiling Dinty Moore beef stew and is often compared to the kid in Dazed and Confused who Wooderson thinks would be a lot cooler if he did. 

Here are the details from the AP:

"Washington State Patrol spokesman Steve Schatzel said Thursday that the 2008 Cy Young Award winner and former star at the University of Washington was pulled over for speeding on Interstate 5 about four miles north of the Oregon border on Oct. 30.

"An officer approached Lincecum's 2006 Mercedes and smelled marijuana. Schatzel says Lincecum immediately complied with a request to hand over the drug and a marijuana pipe.

"The amount measured was 3.3 grams. Schatzel says police consider that a small amount for personal use."

It doesn't sound like this will affect Lincecum's drive for a big contract too much — if anything, it'll only boost his status in most San Francisco neighborhoods — but you hate to hear that he had it so readily accessible while driving around.

You also hate to hear he's let down the parents of children who hang his poster on their walls. Timmy may be the Stew's favorite ballplayer for being such a counterculture force on the mound, but he's also a big role model for Little Leaguers out there, too.

For those of you who might be wondering, I've taken the liberty of doing some research and the answer is no — pitching 225 innings last season and trying to cope while watching San Francisco's woeful offense  are not on the list of qualifying conditions for medicinal marijuana use in Washington.

Over his seven seasons with the New York Yankees, Hideki Matsui seemingly blended into the background of the Yankees universe, his talent drowned out by the star power of those in the lineup around him. In Japan, he has always played second banana to Ichiro, the face of all things Major League Baseball to the Japanese population.

But after Wednesday's big performance against the Phillies, Matsui turned into the king of both spheres, making the World Series a bit more true to its name by becoming the first Japanese player to be named World Series MVP.

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Guiding his team to its 27th World Series championship tells us little about the character of manager Joe Girardi.

Especially when the feat is compared to what Girardi did after the party at Yankee Stadium ended.

Police say Girardi stopped in the wee hours Thursday to help a motorist who crashed her car into a wall after losing control on the Cross Country Parkway in suburban Westchester County.

The crash happened at a particularly dangerous section of roadway, so it not only surprised police to see Girardi on the scene jumping up and down and waving his arms to flag them down, but it also worried them.

From Lohud.com: 

The area is notorious for its blind spots and Girardi, who parked his car along the right side of the parkway, and then ran across the traffic to get to the injured motorist, put his life at risk, police said.

"He could have gotten killed," county Sgt. Thomas McGurn said, adding that responding police units take extra precaution in that area because of the blind curve and speeding cars. "Traffic goes by at 80 mph."

The driver was stunned from the accident and otherwise unhurt, but Girardi probably didn't know that as he became a human Frogger, rushing into traffic to reach the accident scene. The motorist didn't realize who was helping until police told her afterward.

Shortly after the cops arrived, Girardi said he "had to get going." And then he darted across traffic again, got into his car, and presumably drove home.

"The guy wins the World Series, what does he do? He stops to help," said Westchester County police officer Kathleen Cristiano, who was among the first to arrive at the accident scene. "It was totally surreal."

And revealing about what kind of person Girardi is. Baseball fans can forever debate about Girardi's managerial decisions — and sometimes, he makes rather curious ones.

But when it comes to real life, he's going to do the right thing.

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NEW YORK — My time in the Big Apple is drawing to a close — there's a plane at LaGuardi to catch — but this whole World Series bender on the East Coast has certainly had its share of moments. Here are a few candid shots I took on my clunky point-and-shoot during Wednesday's celebration at Yankee Stadium. From paparazzo shots of Spike Lee and Jason Sudeikis to pictures of the crowded clubhouse scene, I'm amazed at how they turned out.

We'll have plenty of more World Series goodness once Stew Force One touches back down in the Windy City, but I want to thank everyone for coming along on the ride for both the regular season and all of our postseason coverage. It's always an honor and a pleasure and I already can't wait to do it again next season. Go baseball.   

NEW YORK — The throng of media members around the makeshift stage seemed impenetrable, but Harlan Chamberlain motored his way through all of the cameras and notepads anyway. Reaching a blue barrier, he stopped his scooter, strained to look over a crowd of world champion Yankee ballplayers and tried to get a glimpse of his son. When that proved useless, he simply resorted to his considerable vocal chords.

"Jaaaaaaahba!" he yelled. "Jaaaaaaaaaahba!"

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