Prince Fielder feels badly about his much-replayed run-in with Brewers teammate Manny Parra.

“It’s not like we hate each other,” Fielder told reporters Tuesday. “I don’t. It’s just a little disagreement. I apologize for the way it went down, but I don’t apologize for the passion and intensity. I definitely could have handled it a little better, but just at that moment, that’s how it went down. I can’t take it back. The way I handled it probably could have been dealt with better.”

Yeah, probably – although manager Ned Yost remained firmly in his corner.

“I just don’t want cookie-cutter players,” Yost said. “I want guys that compete. I want guys that play with fire and passion. And sometimes when you do, things like that happen.

“I’d much rather deal with this than a bunch of guys sitting on the bench getting their butts kicked every day and not caring about it, to be honest with you.”

The Brewers responded to this clearing of the air by hammering the Reds on Tuesday night. So maybe they aren’t dead just yet.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while Manny Ramirez wrestles with his personal grooming issues:

• Had the rains not come Tuesday night, how long might Chris Carpenter have lasted? How impressive was that?
• After watching Huston Street blow his sixth save of the season, do th A’s wish they had moved him before the trade deadline?
• Say, how is Hank Steinbrenner handling this Joba Chamberlain injury?

ATTACK OF THE SMALL BEARS

The Seattle Times tells us that Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, ran into Cards icon Ozzie Smith recently. The Wizard noted how the Cubs were making a serious playoff run.

“He said, ‘Man, Lake Michigan must be upside down. You got the league upside down, man. You ain’t supposed to be in first place,’” Banks said.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Remember when Quebec Ramparts goaltender Jonathan Roy, son of hockey legend Patrick Roy, beat up rival Bobby Nadeau?

That incident in a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff game in March has resulted in a criminal charge against the younger Roy. The elder Roy, his coach on that team, denied ordering him to fight — but he was seen waving his kid into the fray.

The assault charge gives us an excuse to post the video of the incident.

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers and Ken Griffey Jr. to the White Sox topped baseball’s major deals before the trade deadline, representing more than 1,100 career home runs switching teams. America won’t see another transfer of power that big until Nov. 4.”

Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: ‘The Russian basketball team got a coach from Israel by way of Princeton and a American point guard from Bucknell. Woo! Woo! Go Mother Russia!”

Jim Caple, ESPN.com: “We have hyped the closer into a ridiculously over-the-top role. They enter games to fanfare normally reserved for Oprah and pro wrestlers — heavy metal entrance music is such a clichéd prerequisite that controversies arise over who has the more legitimate claim to a particular song (see Mariano Rivera v. Billy Wagner). When J.J. Putz still was regularly closing games for Seattle, the Mariners played AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ over the loudspeakers while the scoreboard flashed menacing lightning graphics and displayed the current time as ‘10:03 PDT, Putz Domination Time.’ With the American League’s worst record, sadly, the Mariners have been unfortunately stuck on stubborn old Pacific Daylight Time this season.”

Rick Chandler, Deadspin: “The NFL is rolling out a Fan Code of Conduct, and be advised that if you don’t follow it to the letter, you’ll be pummeled like a Tibetan monk at a Chinese police picnic. Among other things, ‘unruly’ or ‘disruptive’ behavior is forbidden. Also, ‘abusive language.’ They might as well sell the Jets right now.”

T.J. Simers, Los Angeles Times: “It’s almost gone unnoticed in the Manny mania, Casey Blake, the other guy the Dodgers acquired in a recent trade, hitting .364 so far. I asked him, though, why he seemed to be so boring and nondescript. He said he was from Iowa, which explained everything.”

MEGAPHONE

“When I get to a point where my best is not good enough anymore, as I prepare and I practice and I get ready, and I know if I go out there and play the way I know I can play and it’s just not good enough anymore, my skills have diminished that far, it’s time for me to move on, rack the cue and go home.”

Tiger Woods, on ESPN radio.