After reading a recent blog post by Greg over at Sliding Into Home, contrasting recent quotes by Randy Johnson and Jason Giambi, we feel the need to get something off our chest.
All you need to know about our bone of contention is that Yankee fans have happy memories of Jason Giambi's ringless time in Pinstripes, but rue the day that Randy Johnson toed the rubber at the "House That Ruth Built."
Randy Johnson may have flamed out in the postseason, but he was a rapidly aging workhorse in the toughest division in baseball and was surrounded by a terrible pitching staff. He took the ball every 5 days and gave it his all, even if his teammates and the fans hated him.
We have no feelings of disdain for Randy Johnson and find it comical (and sadly, somewhat appropriate) that most Yankee fans think way more highly of a known cheater, and scumbag (Giambi), no matter how fun he was or how close he was with Derek Jeter. Don't even get us started on the entire A-Rod situation, because it will just drive us further into this diatribe about the fickle nature of Yankee fans.
We don't mean to pick on Greg, or any of the commenters over at his fine blog, but this is just something that really grinds our gears. We cheered for Giambi as much as the next guy, and always appreciated the fun he had playing a child's game for millions of dollars. That being said, we're willing to call a spade a spade. Jason Giambi is a shamed slugger who would never have sniffed superstardom if not for injecting performance enhancing drugs into his body. Randy Johnson is a weird looking stringbean of a man who overcame faulty mechanics and extreme wildness and became one of the most dominant left-handed pitchers in our generation, if not the history of baseball.
Johnson's legacy in New York is that of hall of famer who had a failed stay, while Jason Giambi's legacy is the steroid scandal and seven ring-free seasons. Even with the millions that Johnson cost the Yankees, Giambi cost way more. Think of that next time you curse the thought of Randy Johnson in Pinstripes and dream of Jason Giambi's return to Yankee Stadium so you can give him a standing ovation.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
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4 comments:
Wow great piece.. Maybe if Randy's most notable moment wasn't him getting into it with the press he would be remembered a little differently..
To be honest I'm a little surprised that one is thought of so much more favorably than the other. Neither was remarkable as a Yankee, and both made a ton of money during their time in NY(and like you said, Giambi made way more).
But I guess personality goes a long way with sports fans. Because the baseball writers hated the Ted Williams for his coarseness, he lost out for the AL MVP to Joe DiMaggio, despite hitting .406 in one of the greatest statistical seasons ever recorded (http://baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=willite01).
I suppose that same kind of coarseness with the media earned Randy a bad rap. Or maybe it was just because he never wore a gold thong.
Teddy Ballgame had a 235 OPS+ that season and didn't win MVP! He was robbed.
I hated Randy Johnson before they got him, didn't want them to get him, and was not happy when I had to root for him. Once he blew up so badly in the playoffs I had no reason to pretend to like him after that.
www.bronxbaseballdaily.com
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