TAMPA – Not only does Jason Giambi not have to go, but he also got through the daily barrage of questions about his subpoena without once telling anybody where they should go.
Having already been there and back over the last 12 months, no question from any congressman could have tethered Giambi to a toilet or dizzied or nauseated him. It may have been as humiliating to take the fifth as it has been to play Sergeant (“I know nothing”) Schultz, for a sixth time every day to the media. But Giambi continues to hold his head high out of the sheer joy of being able to lift it off a pillow.
“People take health for granted until it goes away,” he said yesterday morning. “Last year was miserable, being sick all the time.
“It got to a point where I couldn’t even get out of bed. It gives me a new appreciation for being here and able to work.”
If he didn’t exactly treat his body as his temple, the field has become his sanctuary.
“Players can use it as an escape,” said Joe Torre. “When my brother was in the hospital in 1996, it was a place for me to hide for a couple hours.”
No special commendations are in order for a big boy (just not as big as he used to be) handling ignominy brought upon himself. Medals awarded for Giambi’s ability to take it should refer only to pitches off the plate as he rehabs his batting eye and stroke, not so fast on his reputation.
“His mind seems freed,” said batting coach Don Mattingly. “I can’t speak for how he’s feeling about any of those issues but he sure seems relaxed about everything.
“We’ve all screwed up. If anybody in here was the one to throw the first stone, there wouldn’t be any stones left.”
Maybe a boulder fell off Giambi’s shoulder once his admission of steroid abuse leaked, leaving nothing to hide anymore. Perhaps when you can’t see your way to heaven anytime soon, it probably is a release just to see the ball and hit it where it’s pitched. There will be smug nodding and winking if the 40 homers Giambi averaged from 2000-2003 drop to 20-25, and he won’t care.
“Home runs are a [reflection] of good at-bats and hitting the ball hard,” said Giambi. “Being a .300 hitter always was more important to me.”
Yesterday, he lined to second, struck out chasing, worked his sixth and seventh walks (to go with five hits) in 22 at-bats that have the Yankees encouraged, as long as they are stuck for $82 million.
“He’s always been able to hit,” said Mattingly. “I’m counting on that.
“Whether it was Yankee Stadium or the knee injury that got him into bad habits, they’re hard to break. You have to hit the ball low to left-center at Yankee Stadium because they are going to run it down. When it’s chilly there, you crush balls and when they don’t go anywhere you think ‘I’ve got to pull the ball.’ We’re working on that.
“He always was fighting something last year. When you need an hour-and-a-half of treatment then have to be careful, well ‘careful’ is a bad word for a player.”
Not as it applies to what’s said to a congressional committee. But under oath Giambi would swear six of his line drives this spring already have ended up in second basemen’s glove. And that being back on a baseball field leaves him without a care in the world.
The Lineup
Tomorrow’s Congressional hearing on steroids in baseball gets under way at 10 a.m. in Room 2154 of the Rayburn Building in Washington D.C. This is the order witnesses will be called to testify:
PANEL ONE
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.)
Hall of Fame pitcher
PANEL TWO
Ray and Denise Garibaldi
Parents of former USC baseball player Rob Garibaldi, whose suicide his parents believe was brought on by steroid use
Donald Hooton Sr.
Father of high school baseball player Taylor Hooten, whose suicide his father believes was brought on by steroid use
Kirk Brower
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School
Nora Volkow
Director, National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health
Gary Wadler
Associate Professer of Clinical Medicine, NYU School of Medicine
PANEL THREE
Jose Canseco
1988 AL MVP; author of tell-all book “Juiced”
Mark McGwire
Former MLB player suspected of steroid use
Rafael Palmeiro
Orioles first baseman; accused of steroid use by Canseco
Curt Schilling
Red Sox pitcher; outspoken in past about steroid use in major leagues
Sammy Sosa
Orioles outfielder; suspected of steroid use
Frank Thomas
White Sox designated hitter; outspoken against steroid use
PANEL FOUR
Bud Selig
Commissioner of Major League Baseball
Rob Manfred
Executive VP of Labor and Human Resources of Major League Baseball
Sandy Alderson
Executive VP of Baseball Operations; former GM of Oakland Athletics
Donald Fehr
Chairman of MLB Players Association
Kevin Towers
General Manger of San Diego Padres
