Went to Old Timers’ Day today. The Yankees celebrated the 30th anniversary of the 1977 World Championship team. My God, can it really be that long ago?

My buddy Peter Abraham, who does such a great job covering the team and such an unbelievable job with his blog, originally suggested that I go to the game because—without calling me old—he noted that there aren’t a lot of people on our sports staff who actually saw that team.

So I did some easy research. There are several ways to relive that 1977 season. One is a recently-released A&E DVD set of all six World Series games, plus the decisive Game 5 of the ALCS. One is the upcoming ESPN miniseries, “The Bronx is Burning� which debuts tomorrow after the Home Run Derby. My favorite remains Steve Jacobson’s book, “The Best Team Money Could Buy� which really details how wild that season was. I dug that out last night and went through it.

And it’s hard to imagine what that season was like for Reggie Jackson, who broke the bank to sign with the Yankees, who brought on a lot of the problems on himself, who wondered if he’d made a huge mistake and if he should get traded elsewhere. And who finished off the year in heroic fashion with three consecutive homers in the clinching Game 6 of the World Series.

“Cain killed Abel and Abel was his brother,� backup catcher Cliff Johnson said today. “So when you look at 25 guys and throw them all together, there’s going to be times when there are going to be differences. It happened on this ballclub, but the thing that we were, we always had the oversight to come back in spite of, and win.�

Asked on the field if he’d ever come to terms with his relationship with the late Billy Martin, Jackson zigged and zagged and went off on ESPN.

“I don’t know,� he said, his face twisting as if in agony. “I don’t know. I go in and out. I don’t really know. I mean, I’ll forgive. I can’t forget it. I can’t forget.

“They’ve got this thing coming out next week, this miniseries, they didn’t even ask me. I feel betrayed. I could have written stories and told about anti-semitism and racism and all that. But why do that? Why talk about people that are dead? Why trample on a man’s grave and bring that stuff up? I worked for ESPN one time. I worked for ABC. They didn’t have the decency to ask me a question. You want to portray me when you don’t know the story? Very, very … I don’t know the word. Why would you do something like that? You’re doing a documentary? Why wouldn’t you ask somebody who was there, right in the middle of it?â€?

And Reggie is right in the middle of it, played by an actor in a cheap afro. Graig Nettles said he was an advisor on the set of the series. Torrez said he saw some of it, and that it should have been titled, “Reggie, Reggie.�

And why not? Jackson’s feud with Munson was legendary, from the moment he arrived, when he was quoted in a magazine article saying he was “the straw that stirs the drink� and that Munson “can only stir ir bad.�

But it was Martin who treated Jackson worst. Billy was the one who embarrassed Jackson in Fenway Park in June, sending Paul Blair to right field, believing Jackson loafed on a ball hit by Jim Rice; then having to be restrained by Elston Howard and Yogi Berra from fighting Jackson in the dugout. It was Martin who refused to bat Jackson cleanup, until he was convinced late in the season by Lou Piniella and others. It was Martin who actually benched Jackson for Game 5 of the best-of-five ALCS, noting that he was “butchering� right field and not hitting.

“I used to deal with a lot of stuff that went on, and it was a lot of real uncomfortable stuff,� Jackson said today.

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Chris Chambliss was talking about his 1976 pennant-winning homer and the dash he had to make through the crazed crowd which had stormed the field. He said that later on Willie Randolph and Graig Nettles told him they had come onto the field to throw blocks, like pulling guards, for Chambliss. Sure enough, they showed the homer on TV and on the stadium scoreboard screen a few times today, and if you look for it, you see Randolph and Nettles absolutely pancaking fans like offensive linemen.

I was watching Dave Righetti’s July 4, 1983 no-hitter on Yankees Classics on the Fourth of July, and I think I saw the Yankees’ future.

There was Righetti and some brand name stars, like Hall of Famer Dave Winfield in center, and all-time great Don Mattingly at first, and Lou Piniella in left and Don Baylor DH-ing. Billy Martin was the manager and Yogi Berra coached first.

But I also saw Bert Campaneris at third and Roy Smalley at short, Andre Robertson at second and Steve Kemp in right, and I saw Butch Wynegar catching the no-no.

And I’m thinking that, after this playoff-less season, if A-Rod walks (Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera could go, too, and Joe Torre will probably be gone), what the heck are the Yankees going to look like next year and beyond. What are they going to look like after Derek Jeter retires? How do they replace guys like this?

And I’m thinking, will they start having years like the 1980s when kids would chase foul balls in the empty upper deck? When the Red Sox would draw 41,000 on the Fourth of July? The new stadium will ensure that doesn’t happen for a while. That place will be full for the first several seasons, no matter what. But if the product stinks, do the fans—especially those who became fans in 1996 or later—stop coming? Can it ever be this good again, in terms of consecutive playoffs or 4 million in attendance every year?

If not, how bad can it get? That’s the main idea behind my column in The Journal News and on LoHud.com tomorrow. What do you think?

The lost years. The Rangers missed the playoffs from 1998-2005, and every one of those seasons was a miserable failure.

But the first three were especially so, because the Rangers had gone to the Cup semifinals in 1997, because John Muckler became the coach, and because Mark Messier was sent packing to Vancouver for three seasons.

I was reading excellent column by my friend John Dellapina in the Sunday Daily News, and it made me think of a few things with regards to the newest Hall of Famer, whom Dellapina noted is the “leader” of a stellar Hall class.

First of all, the story mentioned that in Edmonton they still refer to Messier as “Moose” whereas in New York he is called “the Captain.” The reason for that is, of course, while Messier was the leader of those great Edmonton teams—I still think it’s the greatest assembly of talent in hockey history—Wayne Gretzky was the captain until he was dealt to Los Angeles.

The other thing in the story was Muckler, as the soon-to-be-fired GM of the Ottawa Senators, compared Daniel Alfredsson’s leadership to Messier’s. Geez.

Well that got me thinking that, as 1999-2000 was unfolding badly, MSG ownership was planning to bring back Messier, whose contract in Vancouver was expiring. Muckler was against that move. Not sure why, and I’m not 100 percent sure that GM Neil Smith would have been 100 percent in favor of it, either. And it may have had something to do with the firing of both men, who were feuding and stabbing each other in the back.

The other was this: During one of those seasons, Vancouver’s Ed Jovanovski brutally whacked Tim Taylor of the Rangers. Muckler claimed that Messier sent Jovanovsky after Taylor because Messier didn’t want to be checked all night by Taylor. Not to take anything away from Taylor, but that was a fairly good stretch of the imagination … the idea that Taylor was so tough for a player like Messier to face.

Just part of the ridiculous stuff that went on in those lost years, especially the first three.

A couple of things about the Blueshirts:

First, back when the Rangers’ playoffs ended, I wrote that Chris Drury and Scott Gomez were B-list free agents, and a lot of people misunderstood that comment. A few had email disputes with me on that.

So I just want to clarify, especially since both landed in Glen Sather’s shopping cart as soon as the store opened.

Those are great “gets” for Sather and the Rangers. They needed to shore up the middle and they got two really good players, in their primes; and two guys who like to show up in clutch situations. The Rangers are far more legit today than they were Saturday. No doubt.

What I meant, simply, is that these aren’t the top-tier superstars like Joe Sakic circa 1997 or in other years free agents like Brett Hull or Paul Kariya. They are not among the best players in the game right now, compared, say, to Jaromir Jagr and Sidney Crosby. OK? Is that all fair?

But the point was that these second-tier, very, very good players were going to command A-list money. And when that happens, sometimes it backfires. Sometimes a 35-goal scorer who gets big, big bucks is somehow expected to score 50. Sometimes a free agent who signs a big ticket is not allowed a slump or an injury. Sometimes the contract produces unreal expectations. And sometimes a player ruins himself trying to live up to the zeroes on his paycheck. That’s all. Nothing more.

Also, I just want to point out that, while the Rangers got both, they lost Michael Nylander, so the additions should be tempered. Down the road, during the years of their respective deals, Gomez and Drury will be much better than the older Nylander, who will be retired while Gomez is still in his prime.

I will also say this: It is always about money, and nobody should ever believe otherwise (except for Martin Brodeur, who has always stayed loyal to the Devils when he could have broken the bank as a free agent). Gomez and Drury shouldn’t talk about coming to New York to win a Cup, because they were on Cup contenders last year and they left for the money.

PS, my buddy Sam Weinman and I were talking late last week about the pending free-agency day. I told him that in the old days the Rangers would be at the players’ doorsteps with goody bags and blank checks. I told him those days are gone, and that I wouldn’t expect any signing fireworks right away. He told me he had a funny feeling that the Rangers were going to sign both Drury and Gomez. Good job, Sam. I take my cap off to you.

Now, as far as the metropolitan area’s other teams. Could it get any worse? How’s Garth Snow’s summer going? He cut Alexei Yashin (good move) but on free agent day he lost Ryan Smyth AND Jason Blake, plus a few other regular contributors like Tom Poti. The Islanders are now a shipwreck. What a disaster.

The Devils lost Gomez and Rafalski, and I’ve said this before—and it’s been coming since their defense began to depart—the Devils are going into a brand new Newark arena (which, by the way, will be more difficult for some of its fan base to reach, and surely will charge more for tickets) in the beginning stages of organizational decay. And I think this could not only mean losing seasons, but also empty seats and ultimately perhaps the end of the franchise in Jersey.

I gotta go, but I have some more thoughts on Messier. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll get to those.