Maybe Alex Rodriguez played in a card game where poker pros and Hollywood big shots had fist fights over $500,000 debts while snorting cocaine off of their chip stacks.

Maybe he didn’t.

Either way, who cares?

– Jim Rich, N.Y. Daily News.

I get what Rich is saying here, and I understand all the bluster over Major League Baseball investigating this after not reacting particularly strongly to the rash of drunk-driving arrests that plagued the sport in the Spring. Drunk driving puts innocent lives at risk, and playing poker risks only money.

But keep in mind that all A-Rod has endured so far for his poker playing is a bit of media sanctimony (plus whatever losses he took at the hands of shrewd cardsharks like Tobey Maguire). The league absolutely should investigate its players’ participation in high-stakes gambling, because it’s the league’s job to maintain the integrity of the sport.

Poker is a fun hobby for many of us, and apparently for A-Rod too. And lord knows he has the type of resources to cover pretty substantial losses without resorting to anything nefarious. But if he’s really involved with the type of people who send “thugs” to games to shake down players, MLB needs to at least look into it — if not for fear that A-Rod would end up intentionally altering on-field outcomes, then to put out the ol’ Marlo Stanfield my-name-is-my-name message to players around the league.

And I know it sounds almost ridiculous to think that players could throw games in this day and age, but gambling is a massive and still-shady industry and it allegedly impacted the NBA as recently as four years ago.

My understanding is that the Yankees are not as high on [Ubaldo Jimenez] as people have been led to believe.

– Mike Francesa, WFAN, yesterday.

This statement, in response to a caller wondering why the Yankees would pursue Jimenez when they have Ivan Nova, seems like it might mean something. But if you actually think about the words it contains, you realize it’s like six steps removed from anything of substance.

Mike Francesa is kind of awesome.

So I missed a lot of the discussion yesterday, but some dude, Christian Lopez, caught Derek Jeter’s 3,000 hit and gave it back to Jeter and the Yankees for a handful of autographed memorabilia, plus suite tickets for the remainder of the season. That earned him quite a bit of praise from some corners, especially those corners in which people worship Jeter — spirit of the game, right thing to do, thinking with his heart not his wallet, stuff like that.

But then came the inevitable backlash: Well wait just one minute, if this guy is so magnanimous, why didn’t he sell the ball — valued up to $300,000 by some — and donate the money to charity? You’re a (presumably) hard-working, taxpaying American, and a house just landed on your lap, and you’re just forking it over to the Yankees and Derek Jeter? And now we’re going to parade you around like a hero for that?

Now it turns out the guy could have to pay taxes on the season tickets, which just straight-up sucks. That’s the type of thing you should be thinking of when you make a deal like that, but unless you’re an accountant or a tax attorney, there’s just no way. Especially in the heat of the moment and all.

He did provide a pretty great quote, though: “I’m not going to let something like the IRS stand in my way from enjoying myself.”

Anyway, I’m wondering what you’d do if you were in this guy’s situation. Hell, I’m wondering what I’d do if I were in this guy’s situation. I don’t fault him for his decision; I think, especially given the emotions of the day, handing the ball over does seem like a decent thing to do even if it does equate to giving more money to the Yankee Empire.

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