NEW YORK -- Former Yankees great Reggie Jackson had no qualms with Chase Utley tying his World Series home run record. What surprised Jackson is that it took so long for someone to match or break his 1977 mark of five home runs.

Jackson pointed out, though, that Yankee Stadium and Citizens Bank Park are home run havens.

``That ballpark [in Philadelphia] is small,'' Jackson told The New York Post. ``It's a small ballpark, but this guy is a great ballplayer. He's not a fluke. So you tip your cap to that. Thank goodness I was a part of it.''

Jackson, now a special advisor with the Yankees, said he wouldn't care if Utley broke the record -- as long as the Yankees win the Series.

``Hopefully, he doesn't break the record against us,'' Jackson said. ``He can break the record if we win. I'm good to go with that.''

MANUEL STICKS BY HOWARD

Even though first basemen Ryan Howard and Mark Teixeira got off to slow starts in the Series, neither manager gave any thought to changing his lineup. Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel, in fact, almost flipped his lid when a reporter asked whether he thought of lowering Howard in the batting order.

``What kind of message do I send to Howard after three years he's been in the big leagues -- all of a sudden, on a big, important game in the World Series, I drop him?'' Manuel said. ``What am I going to do? Call him in and say, `Ryan, I'm hitting you fifth or sixth tonight because this is the sixth game of the World Series'?

``If my manager did that to me, I'd have some words with him.''

NEWS YOU CAN USE

Mike Bloomberg squeaked out a third term in the New York mayoral election, and Chris Christie won the gubernatorial race in New Jersey.

But not one mention of either outcome could be found on the front page of Wednesday's edition of the Post.

Nope, the Post had more important stuff to put on its tabloid front, that being the image of Phillies pitcher Pedro Martinez's head on the body of a diaper-clad infant.

Accompanying it was the headline ``SPANK HIM, YANKS.''

EVERYONE IS A CRITIC

Joe Girardi is used to being second-guessed. As a manager, it comes with the territory -- especially in New York.

``The interesting thing about what people were calling second-guessing that I've always thought curious is they don't know if their idea would have worked,'' Girardi said.

``Everyone makes the assumption that it would have worked. We base our decisions on a lot of preparation, a lot of discussion. We don't do anything where we just pull something off the wall and with the intent of it working.''

-- CLARK SPENCER