TAMPA – With a body devoid of health problems and performance enhancing drugs, Jason Giambi is ready to make the long trek back from embarrassment to being one of the most feared hitters in baseball.
Can he do it? Is it reasonable to believe the 34-year-old Giambi can hit .342 with 38 homers and 120 RBIs like he did the year before the Yankees signed him to a seven-year, $120 million deal? Can he produce without the crutch of steroids? Or was last year’s nightmarish season in which he batted .208 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs over 80 games the beginning of the end? Will he be able to deal with being the face of steroid abuse in baseball as he tours the country this summer?
“I am working my (butt) off to get back to that spot,” Giambi said about rejoining the fraternity of Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero, Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez, Todd Helton and Carlos Beltran. “Baseball is never a guarantee. It doesn’t matter if you are healthy or not healthy but it won’t be because I am not working my (butt) off.”
That’s the same butt he supposedly shot steroids into, according to BALCO grand jury testimony leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle last December. As he did in New York earlier this month, Giambi refused to admit he used steroids. And he called Jose Canseco delusional again.
Can Giambi produce without performance enhancers?
Who knows? The Yankees don’t.
“If healthy, we think he will help us,” GM Brian Cashman said. “But I can’t predict what we will see.”
Giambi says he is healthy. For the first time, he admitted the benign tumor he was diagnosed with last summer was on his pituitary gland and said it has vanished. His weight is up to 240 and there is life in his face after ending last year at about 220 and drawn.
Giambi knows baseball fans are salivating to bury him. He understands he will be abused even by Yankee supporters who believe steroids are wrong. He also knows that hitting .340 in April will erase a lot of the heat.
After undergoing a physical yesterday, Giambi did two shifts of signing autographs for many in the estimated crowd of 500 at Legends Field.
“I have always signed autographs,” said Giambi, who spent 28 minutes at the end of the first base dugout and another eight minutes at the other end where only kids were allowed to get near him.
While Giambi signed, Yankee fans applauded. One voiced boomed, “MVP, Giambi” several times. When he finished there was more applause.
Starting today, when Giambi participates in the first full-squad workout, the task gets tougher.
“I know rough days are coming but I am not going to shy away from it,” Giambi said.
Joe Torre and Giambi said not to judge spring training numbers. Torre will look at the quality of Giambi’s hacks. Giambi explained he has never been a good spring training hitter. When the exhibition games start, Giambi will be the DH in AL parks.
“The biggest thing is being ready for the first game of the season,” Giambi said. “That’s the most important thing.”
The smart money is on Giambi not making it back to the player he was. But such thoughts may prove to inspire him.
“I’ve worked my tail off to be in the big leagues,” Giambi said. “So, hopefully I try and prove everybody wrong.”
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Say ‘aah’
Here’s a rundown on Jason Giambi’s physical yesterday, which lasted between 30 and 40 minutes:
* Blood test
* EKG
* Prostate exam
* Testicle exam
* Hernia exam
* Eye exam
* Dental exam
* Chest X-ray
* Orthopedic checkup
* Intern checkup
* Urine test (not used for drug testing)
