Let's do some All-Star Missing Links:

1) Mariano Rivera has always refused to say he is done for this season. He is known for his faith and, when asked for a timetable, he has pointed to God's plan for him. Still, led by most notably Yankees GM Brian Cashman, the Yankees have insisted that Rivera won't be able to return this season from his partially torn ACL. But his rehab doctor, Dr. Keith Pyne, opened up a little crack for a possible return this year.

"Right now, he’s shut down until next year,” Dr. Pyne told The Post's Joel Sherman.

Sherman wrote that the "right now" is the key. In the same story, Cashman is quoted again saying that Rivera is out for this year. Cashman has been known to lower expectations, which makes it possible that is what he is doing here and he really thinks that there is a chance.

Rivera, 42, is a special athlete, the greatest closer of all-time. He is a reliever so he won't need as much time to be built back up once he returns to the mound. He is famous for pitching 10 innings or less during spring training. This year, he only threw eight. So if he can throw, it could go pretty quickly for him.

So file this in the interesting category at this point. With Mo, though, you never know. Ultimately, if he does come back in '12, it will add to his legend.

2) Joba Chamberlain could be back in the second week of August, Cashman said, in this Q&A with the Post's Steve Serby.

Chamberlain threw an inning for the Single-A Tampa Yankees this morning. He struck out two and allowed no hits and no walks, but gave up an unearned run. His fastball topped, 97, according to Newsday.

3) Reggie Jackson has been barred from the Yankees. Everyone seems to knows this, except for Mr. October himself.

“It was just a mutual thing where it was best,” Jackson told Tyler Kepner of The New York Times at the All-Star Game. “The clubhouse is a very small place [in Boston,] and all the media was there. I didn’t want to be a disruption.”

Basically, this is semantics. Reggie wasn't in Boston because of his comments in Sports Illustrated. Bottom line, he is in timeout, but will be back.

Oh, yeah, Bill Madden and Christian Red of the News say that Jackson "is believed to earn a salary in the $700,000 range for his advisory role."

4) Robbie Cano got hammered by the Kansas City fans. Jim Caple writes:

This probably bodes well for Mets first baseman Ike Davis making the Home Run Derby squad at next year's All-Star Game at Citi Field in New York. Heck, the way Kansas City fans let Robinson Cano have it, next year's Home Run Derby captain might be tempted to pick Ruben Tejada and Mr. Met as well.

With no postseason appearances since 1985, Kansas City fans haven't had a lot to cheer in the past 27 years. But boy, did they ever have something to boo during Monday night's Home Run Derby. A full house at Kauffman Stadium made its displeasure very clear to Cano, the American League captain, for not picking Royals designated hitter Billy Butler to his squad. They booed so loudly that the exhibition could have been mistaken for an ALCS game between the Yankees and Red Sox at Fenway Park.

That will teach Cano for not pandering to the local electorate.

"I expected that [reaction],'' Cano said. "I was criticized even before I got here. When you play for the Yankees, everywhere you go you get booed.''

Asked whether he considered the relentless booing "low class,'' Cano said no, not at all. "This is for the fans and that's what they feel like. There's nothing else I can do.''