OAKLAND - Even the Yankees can't bring the fans to Oakland. Even the sainted Yankees, with their royalty, with their record, couldn't wake any echoes or any interest.

Derek Jeter here. A-Rod there. History and tradition everywhere, but attendance virtually nowhere.

The World Champions, performing as they haven't performed since the days of Ruth and Gehrig, winning their opening four series of a season for the first time since 1926.

High-priced and high-flying. And here at McAfee Coliseum, where the Oakland Athletics toil without much appreciation, low-drawing, with an attendance only 19,049 Tuesday night. Most of people seemingly Yankees fans.

That's some roster for the Yankees. The names in the box scores are one thing, but a walk through the clubhouse is another.

Jeter at a table eating a sandwich and talking to Reggie Jackson. C.C. Sabathia pulling on his jersey in front of the corner locker. Alex Rodriguez sitting at the far end. Mark Teixeira doing a radio interview.

The $200 million men. But it's axiomatic. In baseball, cars and wine you get what you pay for, with exceptions. The Yankees are getting plenty.

Rodriguez homered, Teixeira doubled, and New York clubbed the A's, 7-3, to start another series.

Five wins in a row, eight out of nine and a tie for first in American League East with Tampa Bay. There's a trip to the White House in less than a week, a reward for that 27th World Series title.

There's a probable trip to another championship in the fall. Sporting nirvana and a remarkable lack of tension.

"We just love to play the game we know how to play,'' Mariano Rivera, the reliever, told the New York Times the other day.

That's the game of great pitching and big hitting. That's the game of baseball at its most successful. Skilled, well-paid athletes living up to expectations. There's something to be said for dependability. And unity.

"No one player is bigger than the team,'' said Teixeira. He signed with New York before 2009 for $180 million over eight years. A ton of money. A lot of first baseman. You get what you pay for.

"It's the pinstripes and interlocking NY we wear,'' said Teixeira of a confidence hard to describe.

It's the players who wear those, of course, but his concept is understood. You do your job, earn your pay and don't make waves. That's the task of the media.

There's no such thing as a small story with the Yankees. A New York writer made that observation. And why should there be?

The largest city in the land. The largest number of journalists traveling with one team. Good, old-fashioned competition dealing with the competition the Yankees are knocking off.

"We've got to get our 3 and 4 hitters hitting," Brian Cashman, the Yankees general manager said a couple of days ago. On Tuesday, the 3 hitter, Teixeira had the double and a walk, the 4 hitter, Rodriguez, had the homer and three walks. They're going.

"Javy Vazquez needs to get his first win of the season,'' said Cashman, before the new pitcher Tuesday finally did exactly that. "Over all, though, as long as we stay healthy, I like our club.''

Who doesn't like his club? Talented, balanced, focused. The Yankees are the Yankees. They let Johnny Damon go. They let World Series MVP Hideki Matsui go. And they're tied for first.

A big reason is they didn't let Rivera go. Yankees manager Joe Girardi wasn't going to take chances, even with a four-run lead in the ninth. With a runner on and nobody out - and practically nobody left in the seats - Rivera ended things with a strikeout and double-play ball.

"We're doing what we need to do to win games,'' Girardi said in a succinct analysis.

That included working A's pitchers for 10 walks. "Our guys did a great job of being patient,'' confirmed Girardi.

They did a great job of being the Yankees, forcing the other team to play their game. There's a sense that somehow, some way, New York will show its edge, which it did against the A's, as it did sweeping the Rangers the previous three games.

"They got two outs on five pitches,'' Girardi said of A's starter Gio Gonzalez in the first, "and then they needed 35 pitches to close the inning.'' By then, New York was ahead, 3-0.

"We are playing extremely well,'' was the Girardi overview. Absolutely.

They're playing like the Yankees. From Oakland's view, the shame is they couldn't draw like the Yankees.