Shopping For A Fresh Can of Whupass. Freshly Squeezed...

I wonder what Bill Madden has to say about Giambi today? Two homers, Seven RBIs in today's 10-3 drubbing of the Royals to sweep the home series. Nice way to break out of his slump. Bernie had the other three RBIs and Al Leiter pitched six innings to get the win over Royals phenom Zach Greinke.

Watching Leiter is still painful, but he knows how to battle through potential jams to keep his team in the game. I've always liked Leiter. Hopefully he'll have something left down the stretch after pitching these Tolkien-esque epics.

Back to Madden. I want all of these cheats out the game as well. But this can't turn into a witch-hunt. Journalists have to continue to give guys the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. Every time a guy slumps, you can't assume it's steroid related. Maybe tendonitis (like Giambi had in his elbow) might have something to do with it. Maybe it's overworking in the batting cage. Giambi and Mattingly are always down there and that might have something to with it. Mattingly's back problems were probably exacerbated because of that and maybe it was affecting Giambi in the form of tendonitis. And even if you are on the juice, you still have to have the hand-eye coordination to see the ball and hit it.

If he's back on the juice and gets caught. Fry him. Until then, I'm withholding judgement.

With the win today and Anaheim's loss to Oakland, the A's have a half game lead in the AL West. We now have a half game lead in the wild card standings. We're still a game and a half behind Infidel Nation as Fat Bastard Wells paced them to a 11-3 win over the Tiggers. They won today, but I still think that the Sux are in trouble. Outside of Wells (who's 42), who do you want to give the ball to in a must win game? You don't what you're getting out of Schilling. Clement and Arroyo are imploding and who knows what you'll get from Wakefield's knuckleball? Add the fact that their bullpen is in shambles you can see why infidel nation is scared of a visit from the Death Star.

I'm a card-carrying member of the Empire. But I appreciate talent when I see it. I loved watching Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry in the '80s. And I like what I'm seeing from Wright and Reyes. Those two could be the real deal for years to come. But for some of these Met bloggers and Met shills like Mike Lupica to compare them to Jeter and A-Rod? Please. Just stop. You're comparing the best player of his generation and the Pete Rose of his generation to two players who have yet to play two complete seasons. The sky's the limit for the baby Mets, but to compare them to two first ballot hall of famers is setting them up for failure. If it happens, fine. But last I checked, the Mets have yet to develop a Hall of Fame position player in over 40 years of existence and only one player overall (Tom Seaver). You can't count Nolan Ryan because he had his best years in California and Houston. Gary Carter had his best years in Montreal and went into the hall as an Expo. We all know what happened to Doc and Darryl. I'd love to see what these kids become, but Reyes has had a series of leg problems and Wright is just completing his first full season. Let the kids crawl before they run please. These are the same mooks who were comparing Timo Perez to Jackie Robinson after his incredible 2000 postseason. What happened there?

Speaking of the Mets, has Carlos Beltran gotten a pass from the press or what? I know he's had some injuries, but his stats are comparable to Bernie Williams, not Andruw Jones. This guy has world-class talent. But he's only hit over .300 twice in his career and is now playing in one of the best pitching parks in baseball. This is the free pass year for the Mets and Beltran. Anything over .500 is gravy for them. Next year, the gloves are off. I pity Carlos if he doesn't come through then.

Off to Starbucks land, as the Bombers face the Seattle Cobains for four and Governor Moonbeam's Black Hole for a showdown vs the Athletics for the weekend. We still control our own destiny. But it would nice to get some help. Maybe Tampa and Baltimore can continue to play spoiler vs the Sux next week.

One more thing about Lupica...It's ok for him to say that Wright and Reyes will be better than Jeter and A-Rod in the not so distant future, but it's not ok to compare A-Rod with Bonds or Mays? Please. He's as much a shill for the Mets as Sterling and Waldman are for the Yanks. At least the latter are being paid by King George III. What's Lupicas excuse?