Jason Giambi is sitting against a lefty again. Oh, and so is Johnny Damon. Sure Giambi’s OPSing 1.375 on the road trip, Damon’s hitting .406 in the last 7 games, and lefties are hitting .338 off Glen Perkins, but hey, let’s sit them anyway. Not like the team is in a Wildcard chase or anything.

Damaso Marte is likely to be unavailable tonight after throwing 29 pitches yesterday thanks to that inexplicable second inning of work. Unfortunately Minnesota’s 3-4-5 hitters tonight happen to be Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel (the same combo manager Ron Gardenhire has been using for about a month-and-a-half), all lefthanded batters. So when push comes to shove in the late innings tonight, get ready for some Edwar Ramirez change-up action, or even … gasp … Billy Traber. Heck, even if Marte is available, he’s going to be gassed.

So remind me again, what was so bad about Joe Torre running mediocre middle relievers like Scott Proctor and Tanyon Sturtze into the ground? Hey, I wonder if that whole fiasco about IPK’s comments would have been so ridiculously blown out of proportion if Torre was around to work his media magic …

1. Christian, LF
2. Jeter, SS
3. Abreu, RF
4. A-Rod, 3B
5. Nady, DH
6. Cano, 2B
7. Sexson, 1B
8. Pudge, C
9. Melky, CF

And on the mound, Sidney “will pitch for food” Ponson.

Notes: Pudge has actually turned Sid Ponson into a pretty decent starter, squeezing a 2.03 ERA & .519 OPS against out of him in their two starts together (SSS, yes I know) … Joba’s going to start his throwing program on Wednesday … Hideki Matsui is close to beginning a rehab assignment …

(forgive me, I’m just frustrated that the manager continues to not put the team in the best position to win during one of the more critical stretches of the season)

PeteAbe’s got the word. Paps thinks he’s earned it by closing out the World Series last year. With Joakim Soria (292 ERA+, 2 BSV) Joe Nathan (348, 2) and the Hammer of God (384, 0) on the team, Papelbon (178, 4) should be grateful if he pitches after the 6th.

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We’re in the top of the first at the All Star Celebrity Legends Softball game, and the Bleacher Creature just did roll call for Paul O’Neill and Tino Martinez. Awww.

After losing out on CC Sabathia, the Yanks have focused their attention on acquiring Zambrano. Victor Zambrano that is. Currently toiling away with the Rockies Triple-A affiliate, Zambrano has gone 0-6 with a 9.45 ERA, 2.30 WHIP & .367 BAA this year. He was demoted to the bullpen about two months ago, and hasn’t been as terrible, posting a 6.55 ERA & 1.45 WHIP. If the Yanks are interested, It shouldn’t take much at all to acquire him (”future considerations” should do it), and if he pitches like crap who cares? They’ll release him and be done with it, no risk at all. Could you imagine if they traded Hughes for him though? That would be crazy.

Shawn Chacon throws his GM to the ground, and gets released without pay. Manny Ramirez pushes a club official to the ground, and it’s just Manny being Manny. I fully understand the difference in status between the two players, but that shouldn’t matter when you physically assault someone. What if you or I pushed someone at work to the ground like that? What a bunch of crap.

“If he wants to yell and scream after a strikeout, I guess that’s what gets him going. It’s May baseball. The home run was in a much bigger situation. I didn’t dance and scream. If a hitter did something like that, it would be bush. It’s kind of interesting how a pitcher gets away with it.”

That’s what Dave Dellucci whined about said to the media yesterday afternoon after the Indians lost to the Yankees. The “he” Dellucci is referring to is, of course, Joba Chamberlain. Once again, the media — and opposing players — are making mountains out of mole hills.

In the 8th inning yesterday, Joba came in with something to prove. You could see it on his face and in his body language. He was throwing the ball to get people outs, and that’s what he did. When Dave Dellucci came out with two outs in the inning, everyone just knew that Joba would try to strike him out, and strike him out he did. In Joba’s way, he got excited. He yelled; he pumped his first; and then he calmly walked back to the Yankee dugout.

Dellucci didn’t like Joba’s antics, and neither did Mike and the Mad Dog. But Joba defenders are spot on. Joe Girardi nailed the rebuttal in one regard. “That’s who he is, and he’s not showing anyone up,” the Yanks’ skipper said. “He’s not looking at Dellucci, he’s looking in our dugout. He’s going to show some emotion. There’s a lot of pitchers, when they get an out, they give a fist pump. To me, the important thing is … you’re not showing someone up, and he’s looking at our dugout.”

Peter Abraham took that defense even farther and railed into Mike and the Mad Dog. Joba’s a young and exciting player. He wears his emotion on his sleeve, and that’s a-ok. Mike and the Mad Dog — and Dave Dellucci — are promoting some ridiculous ideal. Players can be excited when they succeed if, yes, it’s only May and even if, yes, Dellucci’s home run had a bigger impact on the game (which is an obnoxious comment to make in its own right). And if anyone doesn’t think emotion comes into play, just ask Richie Sexson.

It’s clear where this is going. Every time Joba does the fist pump, he’ll be criticized, and when he gives up a lead and is visibly agitated, he’ll get criticized. He had it coming, Chris Russo and Mike Francesca will say in a never-ending quest for attention — and ratings. That’s just ridiculous, and the bluster over the first pump should — but won’t — end now.

Joba pumping his first comes to us courtesy of Yahoo! Sports and Getty Images.

Get a load of this gem from Steve Phillips in a Mag article on how to fix the Reds: “Have owner Bob Castellini ring Hank Steinbrenner and tell him you’ve got a way to move Joba Chamberlain into the Yankees’ rotation. Offer Jared Burton, who’s whiffing hitters in bunches, and Jeremy Affeldt for Phil Hughes. Sell Burton as Chamberlain’s eighth-inning replacement and Affeldt as the situational lefty the Yanks lack.” Steve Phillips must think the Yankees’ GM is Steve Phillips. What’s Mo Vaughn up to these days, anyway?

Ed Price relates an odd story from Chicago: The White Sox have put up a sign exhorting players not to drink bottled water on the bench. Why? Because Gatorade, the official sports drink of Major League Baseball, won’t be happy if someone is spotted in the dugout drinking some other bottled drink. “White Sox clubhouse personnel said if players take bottled water onto the bench, all the bottled water will be removed from the clubhouse as punishment,” Price relates. That strikes me as utterly ridiculous.

Nice work, folks. We’ve booed LaTroy Hawkins into submission. I hope everyone feels good about that. Hawkins, previously wearing number 21, will switch to 22 tonight after fans couldn’t deal with someone else wearing the number seven years after Paul O’Neill retired. No word yet if the Omar Moreno or Jimmy Key fans plan on booing Hawkins for the switch.

Most fans felt the story of the Red Sox shirt embedded in the concrete slab of the visitor’s clubhouse at the New Stadium was just a laughable “exclusive” by the Post that was a few days late for April’s Fools. Turns out the Yankees weren’t taking any chances:

It took about five hours, but the Red Sox jersey that was embedded in the concrete of the Yankees’ new stadium to place a curse on the New York franchise has been unearthed with jackhammers, according to a published report.

…

“They absolutely pinpointed that if it was in the ground, that’s where it was,” Yankees spokeswoman Alice McGillion told the newspaper.

As always, Hank Hal Steinbrenner provided the money quote: “I hope his co-workers kick the [expletive] out of him.” Hank’s great when he isn’t talking about making trades and stuff, isn’t he? Hal just earned all sorts of street cred in my book. Sox fans did what they do best, the turned the story into another patently lame T-shirt. Where’s the “David Ortiz is hitting 0.70-.231-.140 and Francona still has him batting third” swag?