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Giambi is Back



As many of you know, Jason Giambi is in my fantasy league. As a matter of fact, his big Sunday put me over the top to win my week. I can always count on him to get on base practically every game and am anticipating Giambi to put up monster numbers the rest of the year. His start is a marked improvement over last season's as he won last week's AL Player of the week.

This time last season, Giambi was mired in the horrible slump that led the Yankees to suggest he go to the minors to work on his stroke. He batted .224 in April; this season, he's at .326 with seven home runs, 17 RBIs and a .530 on-base percentage. The last three numbers are team-leading.

Gone are the questions about steroids. Gone are the questions of injury and diminishing skill. Gone are the nagging Grand Jury leaks. Gone are the questions of his terrible fielding. As long as he continued to hit and keep the Yanks winning while others slump, all the problems circling Jason Giambi fade away.

To think, we were ready to tar and feather him this time last season. Heck, I had a rail all picked out to run him out of town with. But history, the loyalty of Joe Torre, and a weaker Steinbrenner kept him in the locker room and in the lineup. Not many other managers would have kept Giambi around but he did and it's paying dividends. Sure, he'll cool down at some point, and may go into a big time slump (as ballplayers often do), but when he's hot there are only a few batters more feared in the league. And right now he's proved himself to be the most valuable to both the Yankees and my fantasy team.