Mike Lupica figures out the obvious.

Jason Giambi is not discussing his pituitary gland tumor (about three feet higher than I figured, actually) because it will link him to human growth hormone. Mike Lupica figured this out all by himself and then wrote an article in the newspaper about it.

But even though Lupica figured this out, he still doesn't understand baseball at all. For instance, he doesn't seem to understand what valuable players Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez are.

"Jason Giambi was brought here for offense, to hit home runs and be the kind of star in New York another A's slugger named Reggie Jackson had been once. But now it seems as if he has been on defense for almost a year. About his health. About BALCO. About his weight. Now about a benign tumor. Maybe he will even be defensive about the rest of his contract someday."

Now, can we at least ignore Giambi's brain tumor stats? Separate them from the non-brain tumor stats? Because, you know, prior to the brain tumor, Giambi was still a great offensive player for the Yankees. At his worst, he was still 40 hrs, 100 walks, 100 rbis. The Yankees can't get that kind of production from Sierra, Olerud, and Clark unless their stats are combined. The Yankees expected a higher batting average from Giambi, but they can't complain about his production during his first two seasons in NY.

It doesn't look like Giambi will get healthy enough to contribute this season, but if he can eventually recover and keep putting up 40 and 100, then he's living up to his contract. Even if Giambi doesn't do what Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson was able to do. No, Giambi probably won't hit three hrs in a World Series game. Set your sights a little lower, you dummy.


"Giambi was on defense at the end of last season, because of a knee injury, one painful enough that he sat out Game 5 of the World Series, at that point the biggest baseball game he'd ever played in his life."

Giambi did not sit out Game 5. That's just a fact. He came off the bench and hit a homerun. Torre benched Giambi (and Soriano) because he thought that Johnson and Wilson gave his team a better chance to win.

Giambi played the entire 2003 season with a sore knee, he played far too long this season with a brain tumor. He wasn't helping the team while playing injured, so if you want to rip him, rip his batting average. His toughness is unquestionable.


Another inexplicable attempt by Lupica to rip ARod:

"Alfonso Soriano, who struck out too much to suit the Yankees, had struck out 110 times going into yesterday's games.

A-Rod had struck out 111."

Last season, Soriano struck out 130 times and MVP ARod struck out 126 times. So I think it's fair to say the Yankees knew what they were getting into, wouldn't you agree? (Reggie Jackson also struck out a wee bit, by the way, as in more than any other player in baseball history.)

If you really want to compare ARod to Soriano, then let's do it. Soriano has a lower batting average, lower on-base%, lower slugging%, fewer runs, fewer rbis, fewer hrs, more errors, and even fewer stolen bases. Also, if you just watch the games and value the fundamentals of the game, there is no doubt that ARod is a better overall player than Soriano (despite one more whole strikeout over the course of the season).


So why does Lupica ignore attributes like Baseball IQ and Attention to Fundamentals when comparing ARod to Soriano? Doesn't he value the Small Things?

I know he must, because when comparing Jeter to ARod, Lupica is suddenly obsessed with Intangibles. This must be true because Intangibles are the only reason one would think that Jeter is better than ARod (for the record, I have no personal opinion about who is better-looking):

"A veteran in the Yankee family was talking about A-Rod the other day and then started talking about Derek Jeter:

'The guy on the other side of the room (Jeter) can't hit as well, can't field as well, can't throw as well. He isn't even as good-looking. And there's no question that if I had to choose, I'd pick him if I was starting a team.' "

Jeter is a Winner, Jeter has that Special Something, Jeter is Captain Courageous. Okay, that's all fine and dandy. But since we're ripping Giambi's contract, let's get some perspective. Jeter's making $19 mill and putting up Jimmy Rollins numbers.

Also, if you really believe in all this Intangible stuff and importance of Leadership, then why do you rip Steinbrenner for his "When the Goin' Gets Tough" silliness? Of course Steinbrenner is a dummy when he compares baseball to war (like Grady Little), when he invokes September 11th in a baseball discussion (like HBO), when he thinks the Yankees win because of mystique or Babe Ruth's ghost or high school football rah rah speeches (though anything that brings back memories of Billy Ocean on Friday Night Videos can't be all bad.).

But if Lupica et al can see Steinbrenner's stupidity so clearly, then why do they endlessly talk about the exact same stuff? How can they claim that Jeter is a better player than ARod? Is it because Jeter is Tougher, because he's a Winner, because he'd Never Quit? Sounds exactly like Steinbrenner.

You know what? Let me make this simple for you. The guy who hits better, throws better, and runs better is the better ballplayer.

Maybe that's why ARod's subpar 2004 is still better than Soriano's subpar 2004 and Jeter's subpar 2004.