Today’s news is powered by the closest connection I could make between “Star Trek” and baseball:

• Step-by-step ^[1] with Jorge:

New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada played three innings of defense during a simulated game Tuesday.

Sidelined since straining his right hamstring while sliding in a game against Boston May 4, also batted in the simulated game. The five-time AL All-Star threw to second from behind the plate and ran the bases after the game.

• How about $1,500 for two seats ^[2] . . . (game not included):

[My take: The Mets sold pairs of Shea seats for $869.00.  So it only seems reasonable the Yanks would blow that price out of the water when it came time to sell their old seats.]

• CC already planning ^[3] for the future . . . in NY?:

As I was talking to Sabathia a few days ago about why he decided to live in Bergen County, N.J., he asked some questions that indicated he plans to be with the Yankees for the long haul. Carsten Charles III, C.C.’s son, turns 6 in September, but C.C. quizzed me about which county high schools have the best athletic programs. Little C.C. is only in kindergarten, but his father was already thinking about possible high schools.

If Sabathia was planning to bolt the Yankees in three seasons, would he even be aware of Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J.? Probably not, but Sabathia cited the school’s sports pedigree. Sabathia had done some homework, too, because Don Bosco’s baseball team was undefeated last year.

• Mazzilli and Tino ^[4] not dodging this draft:

Tino Martinez and Lee Mazzilli will serve as club representatives for the New York Yankees at the First-Year Player Draft, to be held at the MLB Network studio next month. The Yankees’ first pick will come at No. 29 overall.

MLB.com will offer live coverage and analysis of the entire First-Year Player Draft on June 9-11. MLB Network will broadcast the first round beginning at 6 p.m. ET on June 9 from its Studio 42 in Secaucus, N.J., and those 32 selections will also be simulcast live on MLB.com.

• The Old Man and the Seagrams ^[5]:

. . . John Vendikos says the Yankees have dumped him for the same reason they ditched their storied stadium: old age.

The 73-year-old mixologist, who poured drinks at the Stadium Club for legends such as Joe DiMaggio, as well as for legions of fans, had hoped to move to the shiny new ballpark.

But in January, he was told he had to re-interview for his old job because the Yankees had created their own food-service company.

“I had to wait in line for three hours, and when I got in, the guy said to me, ‘Why should I hire you? You’re an old man,’ ” Vendikos told The Post.

“We deny the allegation of any age discrimination,” team spokeswoman Alice McGillion said. “We have hired many people over the age of 65 at the new stadium.”

[My take: This is true . . . just look at their shortstop! (ba-dum-bum)]

• This isn’t about the Yankees, but its a very cool Q&A with S.L. Price ^[6]regarding his upcoming book (here’s the lead-in):

Mike Coolbaugh and Tino Sanchez toiled in the minor leagues for a combined 28 years. They were baseball lifers, devoted to a game that gave them only fleeting chances to play at the pinnacle of their sport. On July 22, 2007, in North Little Rock, Ark., Sanchez, playing for the Class AA Tulsa Drillers, sharply hit a foul ball that struck Coolbaugh, who was coaching at first base, in the back of the neck. The ball crushed an artery, cutting off blood to Coolbaugh’s brain and killing him almost instantly.

S.L. Price, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, first wrote about Coolbaugh in “A Death in the Baseball Family” (S.I., September 2007). In “Heart of the Game: Life Death, and Mercy in Minor League America” (Ecco), Price traces the lives of Coolbaugh and Sanchez, their working-class struggles, their disappointments and how their paths converged in a random, tragic moment. And in the telling, Price unravels the culture of minor league baseball and its unheralded community of players and coaches.

With the publication this month of “Heart of the Game,” Price discussed Mike Coolbaugh, Tino Sanchez and minor league baseball.

Poll time!

[poll id="31"]

• A happy 60th birthday to oft-time pitching coach Mark Connor.  He hooked on with the Yankees as a scout in 1979. Next he was the pitching coach for the Greensboro Hornets (1980-1982), Columbus Clippers (1983- mid-1984), and Fort Lauderdale Yankees (mid-1985). He also served the first two of three stints as a major league coach for the Yankees (mid-1984 to mid-1985 and May, 1986 through 1987). Connor returned to the Yankees as bullpen coach (1990, 1993) and the third stint as pitching coach (1991-1992).
• On this date in 1960, Baltimore Orioles catcher Clint Courtney used an oversized mitt in an effort to handle the pitches of knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm. The mitt, designed by Baltimore manager Paul Richards, was 50 percent larger than the standard. Courtney handled Wilhelm’s pitches flawlessly in a 3 – 2 win over the Yankees. The oversized mitt will later be banned.

[My take: Remember folks . . . its not the size of the (g)love that matters.]