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July 23, 2006

The Succession That Never Happened

From Sam Borden in the News:

Little more than a year ago, Giambi was the black sheep of the organization, struggling at the plate so badly that the Yanks discussed sending him to the minors and even contemplated buying out his contract.

Sitting at his locker here late Friday afternoon, Giambi looked over at Rodriguez with some sympathy. "You have to develop a little bit of armor in (New York)," he said. "It's a little toughness you need here that you don't need other places. He needs to get that. I think he will. He just needs to know that you're never going to please everybody. You're just not. So you can't worry about it and let it stress you too much because that's when things get worse."

The question, of course, is was it ever this bad for Giambi?

Giambi just shrugs. "I took my hits at home, too," he says. "It wasn't easy. I can promise you that. But you have to work through it. "

For a split second there, it sounded like Giambi is hinting that A-Rod lacks the "toughness" that you need to play in New York. I'm still on the fence with that issue.

After all, Alex Rodriguez played in New York last season and had the best year, offensively, that he's ever had in his career - and one of the ten best seasons by a right-handed batter in the A.L. since 1973.

Then again, some might say that it's easy to handle New York when everything is going right - and, it's how you handle it when things are going poorly that is the test of your "toughness."

In any event, from December 2004 through May 2005, it's pretty safe to say that Giambi took a beating by many in the media and by the majority of the fans. Did he have it as bad as A-Rod now? It's probably close. After all, at it's worst, just about everyone wanted Giambi released or sent to the minors - and, no one is saying that about Rodriguez now.

All this makes me think about those who like to say that Giambi was the whipping boy in New York until Alex Rodriguez came to town. That's not really true.

From 2002 through 2003, the fans and media were not on Giambi in full force. And, the real spotlight on Jason did not start until after the 2004 season. In fact, in the late summer of 2004, Giambi had the sympathy of many when it was found out that he had a tumor.

Alex Rodriguez took some heat during the 2004 season in New York. But, it was nothing like Giambi experienced, at the worst, and it was nothing like A-Rod has seen this season.

Therefore, during the 2004 season, neither Giambi or Rodriguez were locked in the stocks down in the town square. And, A-Rod was a king in New York during 2005. Further, last season, Giambi regained the love of New York during the summer.

Where was the passing of the "Bad Boy" torch from Giambi to A-Rod? Yes, they both had their moments where life was not pleasant in Yankeeland. But, it was not the case that many like to state where Giambi was getting killed in New York until A-Rod came along and then he became the Blame King in the Bronx.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at July 23, 2006 08:21 AM

Comments

Posted by: MJ at July 23, 2006 10:27 PM

Posted by: Steve Lombardi at July 24, 2006 09:07 AM