ESPN’s Baseball Tonight posted an interesting statistic this evening. Balco Bomber Jason Giambi, who hit a two run shot this afternoon, has actually surpassed his April 2000 statistics (the year he won the MVP). Of course B.T. stopped short of questioning the reason for this resurgence. It seems that at the height of the MLB steroid witch hunt, Giambi has become untouchable. Why? Because he once told the truth to a Grand Jury?

Let’s assume Giambi is clean and let’s assume he keeps up this pace. Here’s what you would have to accept: At 35, Giambi would be the first player in MLB history to go off ‘roids and statistically improve! Let’s compare him to two of the other ‘roid boys -Palmiero and Sosa. Both experienced a significant and precipitous drop off in their power numbers. And even Giambi, especially after he reported to spring training ‘05, looked smaller and posted horrible numbers.

But now, at 35 years of age and supposedly without the ‘roids that defined his career, the man has actually boosted his power. If this is true, it has to be considered the most remarkable story of the post-steroid era and one of MLB’s greatest and improbable comebacks ever.

I’m sure YES is already hard at work preparing the Jason Giambi Yankeeography that will explain all of this to the rest of us….

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Boss Bolts Early, NY Daily News, April 29, 2006

Like many in the crowd during last night’s 7-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, apparently The Boss fled early. Other Yankees leaving the game early included Jaret Wright and Scott Proctor.

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Jason Giambi has mini-balls. Randy Johnson does too.

Get the latest in a long line of worthless Yankee collectibles from the NY Post. These mini-balls are sure to go fast. So visit a participating retailer and pocket all 20.

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It’s amazing what a visit from the Orioles and Devil Rays can do for a team. Suddenly the Yankees pitching staff leads the American League with a 3.50 ERA. Look for them to lose the honor in the next six days as they battle the Blue Jays and Red Sox.

In other news:

• Matsui finally got a key hit last night. That’s nice. But he should have been benched days ago. At least for a game. Instead the Yankees continue to placate him and his silly consecutive game streak that goes back to his days in Japan. The Yankees are hurting their team for a statistic that exists only inside of one man’s head.

• This just in: The Boss has a right to be unhappy. “I know he wasn’t happy about [Wednesday] night,” Damon said. “He has a right to be unhappy. We haven’t been playing well,” (NY Post article) says Johnny Damon.

Leave it to The Post to uncover the hard hitting news.

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Tampa Bay 4, New York 2, 10 innings
AP, April 27, 2006

Bubba Crosby essentially loses the game for the Yanks in the bottom of the sixth inning, getting caught in a senseless run down between 2nd and 3rd. Even Torre looks flabbergasted in the dugout at this inexcusable baserunning blunder. Crosby’s punishment for this malfunction — he was named the YES Player of the Game.

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Sure he utters the word ‘fanny’ far too many times during a broadcast. (Seriously.) And his offensive remarks are well documented. But compared to the homers at YES, Mets commentator Keith Hernandez is nothing less than a breath of fresh air.

Al Leiter, by comparison, is already the best that YES has to offer, even after only a handful of broadcasts. But he seems to stick strictly to the action on the field, as opposed to the more controversial baseball issues he supposedly wanted to tackle. To his credit, this probably has more to do with the crowded booth of 3 (!) YES broadcasters. Why 3? This isn’t the World Series! It’s a regular season game against the Devil Rays. Al can’t get in a word edgewise. And when he does, he is often forced to play off something ridiculous one of the other two has already said.

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Yankees 7, Orioles 1, AP, April 23, 2006

2 Home Runs.5 RBIs. And one curtain call.

Not a bad afternoon for Balco Bomber Jason Giambi. That’s his second multi-homer game of this young season. If Barry Bonds were doing this sort of thing, we’d surely cry ‘roids. Instead, Yankee fans asked for and received a curtain call from their favorite Balco slugger. According to Michael Kay, this is all because he’s become Don Mattingly’s shadow as of late. And that, YES would like us to believe, is the only thing shady about Giambi’s resurgence.

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• How many times will we be force fed a shot of Don Mattingly from the bench, with one of the Yankee announcers saying something inane like “There’s one of the greatest Yankees ever.”

• Whenever the bases are loaded, Michael Kay seems to forget he is doing a television broadcast. “The bases are loaded with Yankees,” he says. Michael, that’s a tautology. If the Yankees are batting, of course the bases are loaded with Yankees. Would they be loaded with Orioles? Or Mets maybe?

• The seventh inning stretch - Why do we have to sit through a broadcast of Bob Sheppard’s little speech and then that shrill, scratchy recording of God Bless America? Enough. The Yankees are the most patriotic team ever and this proves it.

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Sheppard missed first opener since 1950, Associated Press, April 20, 2006

Bob Sheppard is back. And of course George Steinbrenner has issued a statement:

“Every time I hear his voice, I’m delighted, and so are the fans.”

I’m sure Sheppard is a decent man but let’s be rational. Why the plaque in Monument Park? Baseball can be a slow game and if anything, Mr. Sheppard makes it slower with his deliberate, unwinding, and often infuriating speech pattern.

Why do the Yankees insist on labeling everything and everyone in their organization as classic or legendary? We’re on a slippery slope here.

The Yankee foundation is built upon this mythology and they put their past in your face every chance they get. Fair enough. But these days it seems they have begun to manufacture their legends. Bob Sheppard. John Sterling. And coming in another twenty years to Monument Park - Michael Kay. Because it’s no longer about achievement or excellence with this organization. It’s elevation by association. It’s all about promoting the brand.

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The Business Of Baseball, Forbes.com April 20, 2006

They are worth over 1 billion (62 million alone for YES). They can boost your home team’s ticket sales by 25 percent when they come to town. And they account for 27 percent of all MLB merchandise sales.

And one day soon, all that money will get them over .500.

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