BOSTON – You can still see him if you look carefully.
You have to come early to watch batting practice. Be on the bench while he’s giving his teammates support. See him when he’s going over charts with Don Mattingly.
That’s where you’ll find Jason Giambi this postseason.
“You still find a way to be a part of it,” he said.
Giambi is not on the ALCS roster for the Yankees, and October baseball in The Bronx is going on without him. He wasn’t on the ALDS roster, either, and if the Yankees make it to the World Series, he’s a longshot to see any Fall Classic time there.
Add it up, and it makes Giambi’s status a far cry from where he thought it would be when he signed with the Yankees after the 2001 season. That’s what makes it so tough for him to watch.
“I came here to play a big role in this, no doubt about it,” he said. “But at the same time, for me to move on [emotionally], I’ve got to accept that I got sick.”
So as Giambi watches his teammates close in on winning a World Series ring without him, he does what he can to stay involved. It could be taking batting practice, watching pitchers or discussing things with his teammates.
“The guys have been great,” Giambi said. “They know I’d love to be in there. They’ve all said, ‘Wish you were out there with us.’ ”
In the wake of his benign tumor, Giambi is still feeling some sporadic dizziness. But he said the last testing he received revealed that it’s starting to dissipate. According to Giambi, “I’m a lot better. My strength’s starting to come back. Everything’s starting to come together.”
Things were tougher for Giambi at the end of the regular season. After he was activated off the DL in mid-September, the lefty slugger went just 4-for-33 in his final 10 games. The Yankees needed their postseason room for pitchers, and Giambi was left off the team.
Giambi knows he could have stayed away from the Yankee playoff run. He chose not to.
“I guess I could be sitting home, but then I’d be itching to be part of it with the guys,” he said. “I’m having a good time with them and, unfortunately, I don’t get that opportunity to play, but I’m still with them, and that’s important.”
