To some, he’s the biggest fraud in professional sports. To others, he’s merely the worst human being on earth. But to his mother Jeanie, he’ll always be her Little Giambino. Or at least smaller than he used to be.

From the New York Post’s Steve Serby.

“My son is not a liar and a cheat, and a lot of people make mistakes,” Jeanne Giambi said. “You have ballplayers that put pine tar on their bats, and pitchers who sand the ball. Everybody tries to get a little edge on everything. The people who have said he’s a liar and a cheat have also lied and cheated in their lives.”

Her support was unwavering.

“Honey,” she would tell him, “you’ll be fine. It’ll all come back.”

“I know, Mom,” he would say.

She had stopped going to A’s games, because the fans in Oakland had turned on Jason (above) when he left for greener pastures, but returned two months ago at a time when he was fighting for his Yankee life.

“There was not one problem in the stands, except for the beer-throwing,” Jeanne Giambi said. “I saw the guy throw it. I said, ‘Well, that little [jerk]!’ Excuse my language. I was so glad when they took him out.”

As the All-Star break neared, as if by magic, Jason (11 HRs, 33 RBIs after a homer in last night’s come-from-behind 8-6 win over Red Sox) suddenly resembled a Bronx Bomber again, and Yankee fans stood and cheered for Jeanne’s kind-hearted, sensitive boy.

“I’d like to see a lot more cheering and a little less booing,” Jeanne Giambi said.