Same As It Ever Was....Dom Anyone?

Actually, "Once In A Lifetime", is probably a more appropriate title for this post. Since, that's all the joy Red Sox fans will experience from their team.

Thanks Twinkies. Hey Papi hope you enjoy that 50th homer. You and Manny get reminisce about it on some golf course in the D.R this winter.

I wasn't disappointed in the least that the Yankees didn't clinch by winning Wednesday. I wanted to win the game more so because they haven't beaten Doc Halladay in a couple of years. Also a sweep would provide even another dagger in the heart of a division rival, beating them with three rookies when they pitch two of their best.

This was not backing into the playoffs. When you're up by 10 plus games at the end of the season, that's called inevitability. Even if you lose a few, at some point, so will they. You don't all of a sudden start playing well in September and win a pennant. Unless you're playing in an awful division. You win divisions by what you do in the preceding months. So the Yankees and their fans should feel zero guilt about winning the division with a Boston loss rather than a Yankee win. The groundwork was laid in blood, sweat and ass-whippings in July and August.

Now we have the best possible situation. The ability to rest guys and set up your rotation, while still going after homefield. I hope the skipper doesn't underestimate the importance of sleeping in your own bed for the majority of these games. It seems the team has taken it upon themselves to keep line moving by playing well even Torre rests a third of the regular lineup. But clinching now gives Torre the ability to try Sheffield at first base while Giambi rests his wrists.

Speaking of Giambi, interesting shitstorm this A-Rod article has created, huh?

Here's my take on it. First of all, the article written by Tom Verducci shows why he's one of the best in the business. Very thorough job. The access he received for this piece was impressive. The Yankee clubhouse is a very tough nut to crack.

As for the content, credit Verducci for being able to spin new material on an old subject. I'm hearing varying opinions on the Giambi factor. Lupica thinks he should shut up while my friend Karen thinks that Lupica should shut up. They're both scratching their head over why an admitted juicer welds so much clout in the clubhouse. Enough to tell Alex to get his head out of his ass.

Personally, I'm glad he did it. Would it have come off better from a PR point of view if Jeter, Posada or Bernie had done it? Yeah. But Giambi has always had the rep of being a great teammate since his Oakland days. In spite of what happened with him sitting out of game 5 of the 2003 World Series, missing much of 2004 season with a pituitary tumor and his admitting to taking steroids during the BALCO grand jury. He still holds a lot of weight in that clubhouse. Is it a tribute to Giambi's perseverance and personality or it a bad judgement on his teammates part? Who knows.

But Alex needed to hear what Jason said and the fact that he's responded by playing better is all that matters in Yankeeland. As for why an admitted cheater should still have the juice-no pun intended-to do it....it goes back to something my mother taught me as a kid. People might forget what you do for them or to them. But they never forget how you make them feel. The Yankees like Giambi and when people like you, they'll give you the benefit of the doubt for just about anything. Anything.

As for Alex, he'd be better served by just shutting up and playing. Let his play speak for him. They'll love you when you win. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be powerful than popular.