"Jason Giambi doesn't sleep much these days. Bottles surround him.

But filled only with milk.

Giambi has evolved from the mother of all party boys to a doting first-time father at age 41. The Rockies first baseman smiles when talking about wife Kristian and 8-week-old daughter London Shay.

"I can't even put it into words the joy," Giambi said after a recent workout. "I am helping with the feeding, changing diapers, trying to do it all. I have never done anything halfway, whether it's playing or going out. I will be 100 percent committed to my daughter. You owe that to your child and yourself."

The idea of Giambi — known as "G" to his friends and teammates — being a dad seemed unimaginable when he struck a WWE wrestler pose on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2000. The long-haired, tattooed slugger thrived in the Oakland A's' frat house and survived in New York with the Yankees, emerging virtually unscathed from the BALCO scandal after apologizing for his actions and cooperating with baseball's Mitchell investigation.

Instead of becoming a pariah, Giambi has morphed into a powerful leader in the Rockies' clubhouse over the last two-plus seasons. Which brings us to this undistinguished Las Vegas storage suite near a strip mall 15 minutes from his modest home.

Entering his 18th season, Giambi remains in the business of getting better, drawing players Troy Tulowitzki?, Dexter Fowler?, Nolan Arenado and Josh Rutledge to the Philippi Sports Institute for offseason workouts. Tulo- witzki, an all-star shortstop, sets the exhausting pace. But the unofficial captain of this group is the guy with gray speckles in his hair. Giambi hasn't been an all-star since 2004, but these players hang on his every word."