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TAICHUNG, Taiwan -- Robinson Cano hopped out of a white van near one of the popular “night markets” here and the screeching started. Everyone on the bustling street seemingly recognized Cano so they scampered toward him to snap his picture. A group of fans quickly became a crowd that became a mob. There was a wall of 10 security guards surrounding the Yankees’ second baseman.

Cano took small steps during his shopping expedition. He had no choice. With so many people smothering him, Cano had to shuffle along at a sluggish pace. It didn’t matter to Cano, who stopped to pose for pictures and who appeared to enjoy the attention as much as the people enjoyed seeing him.

When Cano walked into a sneaker store, fans rushed toward the door and tried to get near him. Eventually,

NEW TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN – The burly man carried his massive drum across the first level of Xinzhuang Stadium as if he was carrying an infant. He placed it behind a row of blue seats, rested his sticks on top of the drum and waited. He was one of the quietest men in the ballpark. But, eventually, that changed.

As soon as the Chinese Taipei National team hustled on to the field to play the visiting Major Leaguers, the man attacked the drums. He attacked them so vigorously that the folds of flesh on the back of his neck jiggled. The drummer was the essence of an intense fan, a portrait that was visible in hundreds of different shapes and colors throughout the stadium.

When Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson came to town, they noticed that the pulsating drums were only part of a festive

TAIPEI, Taiwan – When Curtis Granderson marched through the airport on Sunday afternoon, there were about two dozen reporters pointing cameras in his face. Granderson didn’t blink. Instead, Granderson mimicked them because he was pointing a video camera right back at them.

“They’re looking at me and I’m looking at them,” said Granderson, who moved as briskly as if he was dashing from first to third on a single.

When Granderson was introduced at a press conference for the 2011 Taiwan All-Star Series, he happily waved to the dozens of photographers who were crowded inside a ballroom at the Grand Hyatt. The cameras clicked a little faster and a little louder, trying to capture Granderson’s simple, smart hello.

A few minutes later, Granderson’s

SAN PEDRO DE MACORIS, Dominican Republic  -- To find Robinson Cano working out on a hideaway field here, you need a local driver and a vehicle with sturdy shock absorbers. You need a Dominican driver because you need someone who can adeptly steer through the streets that have no names. He needs a rugged ride, meanwhile, because the journey is as adventurous as bouncing around on a Tilt-a-Whirl.

After buzzing in and around helmetless drivers on motor scooters in the crowded downtown, our driver turned on to a narrow dirt road. The chaos of the streets was replaced by the sobering sights on this road. The houses, which in reality were closer to wooden shacks, were smaller than one-car garages. Some were dilapidated.  Many kids wore no shoes. Some had no shirts, either.

When the

The afternoon turned grayer and chillier at Yankee Stadium, but the kid kept swinging, kept extending batting practice by one more session. Swing after gorgeous swing, the batter kept socking baseballs over the right field fence and kept smiling and begging for more pitches. He wanted to keep another day of baseball alive.

The player was Robinson Cano. The scene unfolded during Sunday’s workout at the Stadium. After almost all of the Yankees returned to the clubhouse, Cano wanted to keep playing, so Kevin Long, the batting coach, parked himself behind a screen for the famous Home Run Drill and flipped dozens of underhanded pitches to Cano.

Cano got to keep playing. That is what the Yankees are trying to do in the American League Championship Series right now: keep playing. They are

NEW YORK – The former Most Valuable Player looked like the injured kid on the playground who had been left out of another game. With his left foot in a cast and crutches by his side, Dustin Pedroia sat in the third base dugout at Yankee Stadium and watched. He hates watching. He would rather play.

While Pedroia can’t play baseball, he can talk baseball. Since Pedroia won the MVP two years ago for the Red Sox and has done a lot of watching lately, I wanted to know who he thinks has been the most valuable player in the American League. He responded in 1.2 seconds.

“It has to be Robbie, you would think,” Pedroia said. “Doesn’t it have to go to him?”

Robinson Cano, Pedroia’s counterpart as the Yankees’ second baseman, is having a memorable

TORONTO – Robinson Cano was exasperated. He waved his hands toward the scoreboard operator’s booth at Yankee Stadium, futilely trying to get some music pumping during early batting practice. Cano never got the music a few weeks ago, but he did get his swings. Cano always gets his swings.

For a team that has the best record in Major League baseball, the Yankees have spent a lot of time explaining what has gone awry. A.J. Burnett and Javier Vazquez have had too many erratic starts. Joba Chamberlain fumbled away his job as the eighth-inning setup man. Mark Teixeira was missing for most of April and May. Derek Jeter’s average is over 50 points lower than last season’s average. Alex Rodriguez’s average and home run totals are down, too.

But, other than some occasional

Robinson Cano stood on first base after chopping a game-tying single to right field against the Orioles on Wednesday night, stuffed a piece of bubble gum in his mouth and failed to suppress a smile. At that moment, Cano looked more like a Little Leaguer than one of the best players in baseball.

To watch Cano is to watch a player who is giddy, confident and aware. Watch Cano after he gets another important hit or makes another stylish play at second base. He will usually point to a teammate or to the dugout and smile. It is fun to be that good and to know you are going to get even better.

The evolution of Cano from a very good player to a superb player is happening this season and it is happening at an alarming rate. Cano is hitting .376, which leads the Majors, and has 12 homers and 46 runs

Roberto Alomar was a talented and stylish second baseman, a player who was enjoyable to watch because of the way he played the game. When Alomar watches Robinson Cano, another talented and stylish second baseman, he sees a player that he enjoys watching. Alomar also sees a player that he believes can and will improve.

“He’s one of the best second basemen of his generation,” said Alomar in a telephone interview last week. “He can still get better.”

So far, Cano is having a superb season for the Yankees with a .387 average, nine homers and 21 runs batted in. He has embraced the challenge of batting fifth in the lineup, he is hitting with runners in scoring position and he has been the most dynamic player on a team filled with superstars. He has more homers the