For as long as Jason Giambi can remember, he always wanted to wear the New York Yankees pinstripes. This may seem somewhat odd, considering he was born and raised in Southern California, where the Dodgers reign as king, and have enjoyed a stranglehold in the area since 1958 when the club moved from Brooklyn.
His opportunity to put on the Yankees uniform presented itself after the 2001 season when he signed a huge free-agent contract. At a tearful press conference, and flanked by his emotional father, the 30-year-old former Oakland Athletics’ slugger achieved his dream. When Giambi stood and proudly displayed the back of his uniform, it bore No. 25. There was a reason for the number. You see, Mickey Mantle was his dad’s favorite player, so it was imperative that his son wear a combination of seven, which Mantle proudly wore while patrolling center field from 1951 until his retirement in 1968.
In the six-plus seasons that Giambi has been in the Bronx, he’s played with varying degrees of success. There have been times when he’s been brilliant, very good, average and even poor. A five-time All-Star, Giambi is currently batting .183 with a .336 on-base percentage, and has hit seven homers and driven in 20 runs through Sunday. The team is 19-19, in the bottom half of the American League East, and seeking an identity.
A first baseman/designated hitter, Giambi has led the AL in walks four times and on-base percentage three times, but is coming off a sub-standard 2007 in which he played in 83 games and lashed 14 homers with 39 RBIs, while hitting .236. The AL’s Most Valuable Player in 2000 with the Oakland Athletics, Giambi, who has been linked to BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative), followed up that campaign (43 homers, 137 RBIs, 137 walks, and a .333 batting average) with another over-the-top season in 2001 as he finished second in the MVP voting. That campaign, Giambi crushed 38 homers, drove in 120 runs, smacked 47 doubles and posted a .342 batting average.
There were few players more sought-after than Giambi, and when the deep-pocket, high-priced Yankees came calling, he answered. Giambi said he enjoyed playing before the fans in the Bay Area, who appreciated his rough-and-tumble image (motorcycle riding, long hair and goatee), but tired of losing to the Yankees in the postseason. The A’s fell in 2000 and 2001 to the Bombers in the AL Division Series. His desire to win a World Series ring has been confounding, and the club has been to the World Series only once in 2003 when they lost to the Florida Marlins in six games.
Giambi’s overall postseason figures are decent: (seven homers, 18 RBIs, .420 on-base percentage, and a .489 slugging percentage), but that hasn’t been enough to get over the hump. In Giambi’s first two years with New York, he slugged a combined 82 home runs, drove in 229 runs and crossed the plate 217 times. Giambi was a clutch player, and a fan favorite.
In 2004, Giambi’s numbers dipped (12 homers, 40 RBIs and a .208 batting average) after missing about half the season with a thyroid issue. There was enough speculation that he had been using steroids and/or HGH (human growth hormone). In time, Giambi apologized to the front office, teammates, family, and friends, and said without saying directly that he had used illegal performance-enhancing drugs. The front office was now looking for a way to void his multi-year contract, or send him to the minors where he could locate his batting eye. Neither happened, as Giambi, who was the A’s second-round pick in the 1992 amateur draft, responded with a solid two-year run (2005 and 2006) in which he drilled 32 and 37 home runs, drove in 87 and 113 runs, and posted a .440 and a .413 on-base percentage, along with a .535 and a .558 slugging percentage.
Seven times Giambi, a career .288 hitter, has hit 30 homers or more and driven in 100 or more, but he is still seeking the grand prize. His time is running out.
