Readers who can't believe anything has really happened until it has been reported by the New York Times can take heart. The newspaper, not to be outdone by rivals like HarperCollins and Pocket Books, is coming out with its own New York Yankees World Series book. It's called Champions: The 1998 New York Yankees. The large-format paperback, which will have 112 full-color pages and an introduction by Times sports columnist George Vecsey, will be on sale November 9 at $14.95. The book, packaged by Bishop Books, and overseen by Nancy Lee of the newspaper's sports department, has been in the works since earlier this year. Said Times spokesman Mike Levitas: "If they hadn't won, we'd still have published, as a record of a great year in the life of an extraordinary team." But perhaps more slowly.