"Jason Giambi is wearing a black sleeveless T-shirt, flaunting the flaming skull tattoo on his bulging left arm. His cap, pulled tight, sits backward atop his head. A Fu Manchu-style mustache accentuates his 5 o'clock shadow.

After all these years, Giambi still looks like a slugger, but appearances can be deceiving.

Out of baseball two weeks ago after he and his .193 average were released by Oakland, Giambi has latched on with the Colorado Rockies. Or, more precisely, with their bench, where he will begin most every game. Giambi, 38, is the latest aging power hitter to drift into the pennant race, eager for what could be his final chance at an elusive World Series title. In 14 complete seasons - seven with the A's, seven with the Yankees - Giambi has won only two of nine playoff series.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to be here," Giambi said before Wednesday night's game against the Mets. "I'm excited, I'm ready, I just can't wait to get another chance."

That chance now comes once a game, maybe, and it arrived in the eighth inning Wednesday. He is the most popular pinch-hitter in town after ripping a two-run single off Brian Stokes that drove in the go-ahead runs in the Rockies' 5-2 victory at Coors Field."