Baseball's been a running theme throughout the Sonia Sotomayor hearings_and true to form, the Supreme Court nominee has been judicious in discussing what team she likes best.

    Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., tried hard to pin her down. "Am I correct you share my love for  
America's pastime?" he asked.

    "It's often said that I grew up in the shadow of Yankee Stadium," she replied. Sotomayor grew up in the South Bronx.

    But she would not concede any special allegiance to the Yankees. "To be more accurate," Sotomayor said, "I grew up sitting next to my dad when he was alive, watching baseball."

    Schumer bored in. "So given that you lived near Yankee Stadium, and you're from the Bronx (site of Yankee Stadium)...are you a Mets or a Yankees fan. But I guess you've answered that, right?"

     Well....Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is the committee chairman, and he hails from Boston Red Sox country.

    "Be careful," he warned. "You want to keep the chairman on your side."

    Sotomayor laughed, and tried to show some fealty to the local team, the Washington Senators. But she showed she's probably a better lawyer than a baseball wonk.

    "I know many residents of Washington, D.C. have asked me to look at the Senators," she said. The Washington Senators last played in the nation's capital in 1971 before leaving for Texas.