Jason Giambi News

"The key to turning the Yankees season around could be under Jason Giambi's pinstriped pants. The Yankee slugger revealed Friday he slips on a gold lamé thong with a flame-line waistband when he's trying to get out of a hitting slump - and he's shared it with his teammates. "It works every time," Giambi told the Daily News after his secret was outed on Portfolio.com. "

"Maybe Jason Giambi should leave some bats behind this weekend to have Pope Benedict XVI perform an exorcism on them. There seems to be some evil spirits in them and right now, it looks like Giambi's last season as a Yankee might be a microcosm for his time in The Bronx - great expectations with little results. "

"Monday night's cold temperatures - it was 48 degrees at game time at the Stadium - kept Jason Giambi out of the lineup for a second straight day and possible wet conditions in Kansas City may mean Giambi will be scratched Tuesday against the Royals."

"The days of simply trotting out Jason Giambi as the designated hitter anytime he has a nagging physical ailment could be over."

"Jason Giambi was not in the lineup Sunday, a day after he tweaked his left groin, but the Yankees don't believe the fragile slugger will need a stint on the disabled list. Still, Joe Girardi said, Giambi may miss at least another game Monday. "Even if he says he's OK, I'm not sure he'll be in there because we may give him an extra day to make sure it doesn't blow up," the manager said. "

"Better safe than sorry, especially when it comes to Jason Giambi. That was bench coach Rob Thomson's rationale for removing Giambi from yesterday's game, after Giambi mentioned he felt a twinge in his left groin muscle while rounding second base in the third inning. "

"Jason Giambi had to be replaced in the bottom of the fifth inning Saturday due to a sore left groin he experienced after running the bases. The Yankees have him listed as day-to-day, but Giambi said he came out of the game as a precaution."

"Jason Giambi's candidacy for a Gold Glove award probably took a hit last night. The dream was fun while it lasted. Giambi looked sharp defensively on Opening Night, but last night it was back to the stark reality he's going to cost the Yankees more than a few runs this season. Giambi committed his first error of the year and later misplayed a pop-up in the Yankees' 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays at the Stadium. "

"Jason Giambi arrived in Tampa with a message for Joe Girardi: I'm in good enough shape to play first base. Then the 37-year-old Dancing Bear, more known for his stick than leather, proved it to everybody."

"Welcome to Jason Giambi's world, a universe very few can understand, never mind handle. Starting from the seven-year deal worth $120 million to replace the popular Tino Martinez; to his admitted steroid use; his knee, wrist, foot and pituitary gland problems - Giambi has arrived at a point in his life where he is playing for a future."

"The Yankees' new manager is nothing if not prepared, and shortly after getting the job Joe Girardi looked over his likely roster and realized something. Jason Giambi was going to have to play first base. "

"Right now, with spring training coming to a close, Duncan is still hitting like a champ, but - surprise, surprise - so is the $120 million man. Giambi pushed his average to .417 Tuesday with a pair of well-stroked hits, including a double that the Cleveland right fielder reached over the fence to knock back on the field."

"If Giambi, 37, were the bigger, bulkier player of years past he would not be moving around first base as well. His play has been one of the biggest surprises of the spring. Giambi would love to come back to the Yankees next season."

"After reporting to camp in terrific shape, Jason Giambi has given Joe Girardi great hope for the upcoming season. "I think he's going to be able to help us a lot out there on the field," Girardi said. "That's really good for our team." "

"Jason Giambi is trying to convince the new regime here that he can be the everyday first baseman."

"The competition at first base is turning into an entertaining bit of one-upsmanship. After Shelley Duncan started and homered in a five-RBI perfromance Saturday, Jason Giambi Sunday smacked a three-run homer off Cole Hamels and an opposite-field double that drove in another run."

"If Giambi could play first base — and Kevin Long, the hitting coach, said he could see him doing so in half the games — then the Yankees could use all of their best hitters in the same lineup."

"Granted, it's easier to spray balls all over the field in batting practice without Yankee Stadium's short porch staring you in the face. Yet, Jason Giambi turned back the clock to 2001 yesterday at Legends Field when he consistently drove balls to left-center. It was the approach Giambi used in Oakland but got away from when he surfaced in The Bronx."

"It has been more than five years since Jason Giambi was considered one of the top hitters in baseball. Sure, he has belted his share of home runs since 2003, but the man who captured the 2000 American League MVP award and instilled fear in opposing pitchers was about much more than the long ball."

"Even the Yankees' Web site has Jason Giambi listed as a designated hitter. That's how bad his reputation as a first baseman is."

"That script has never materialized for Jason Giambi . Instead, he now faces Year 7 of a seven-year contract, a last chance to amend a Yankee reputation soiled by steroid revelations and diminishing impact. He has a $22 million option for next season that has the same chance of being picked up as the $13 million option of Carl Pavano."

"Jason Giambi was well into a punishing offseason conditioning program when Joe Girardi phoned with a plea Giambi was happy to hear. "He told me, 'I need you at first base,' " Giambi said yesterday at Legends Field on the eve of the first full squad spring training workout."

"Andy Pettitte might be entering new territory as he handles the fallout from his HGH admission and congressional deposition, but Jason Giambi has a message for his teammate: Things can only get better."

"It's always the cover-up that gets them, and in the end it seems the only athlete wise enough to understand that was Jason Giambi."

"Joe Torre inserted Jason Giambi into his dead lineup last night for Game 3 of the ALDS against the Indians at Yankee Stadium. But instead of using Giambi for the ice-cold Hideki Matsui as the DH, Torre played Giambi at first base instead of Doug Mientkiewicz."

"Yankees manager Joe Torre tried to spark his club's skidding offense by inserting Jason Giambi at first base and taking Doug Mientkiewicz out of the lineup."

"When it comes to making multiple moves to shake up the Dead Bat Society, Joe Torre's hands are handcuffed to the termite-infested bat rack."

"And Joe Torre finally said he will shake up his lineup tonight against the Indians, probably using slugger Jason Giambi."

"Torre hinted that Jason Giambi, who has only one pinch-hit at-bat in the series so far, could start tonight, either at first base or as the designated hitter."

"Jason Giambi will need to pack his first baseman's mitt for the playoffs - just in case - but probably shouldn't expect to use it much, if any."

"The rookies' hazing didn't end when the Yankees arrived at the team hotel Monday night. Jason Giambi invited the rookies who were dressed in Wizard of Oz garb for the flight from New York to the Capitol Grille in Tampa for dinner. The only requirement was they stayed in their costumes."

"Jason Giambi had been expected back in the Yankee starting lineup last night, but the first baseman instead took a detour, making a visit to New York-Presbyterian hospital for further testing on his sore right foot."

"There are numerous unopened boxes of bats in Jason Giambi's dressing area in the Yankees' clubhouse. Right now, he doesn't need them. Giambi again is unavailable to play. This time, his right foot is bruised and swollen, and although X-rays were negative, the team's medical staff is taking a cautious approach to Giambi's latest injury."

"Jason Giambi's right foot was sore after getting hit by a pitch there Monday night. That put Doug Mientkiewicz in the starting lineup for the third straight day."

"Yankees manager Joe Torre planned to start Jason Giambi at first base against the Orioles last night. But Giambi sat out a second straight game because of two injuries: a sore right foot and a swollen right elbow."

"Both Jason Giambi and Hideki Matsui were out of the starting lineup against Boston starter Curt Schilling. Giambi is hurting after getting drilled twice in the same spot on his right elbow within a week, but Matsui is simply slumping."

"Giambi, once one of the most dangerous bats in the Yankee lineup, has morphed into a part-time player since he returned from the disabled list in early August, stuck in the revolving door of not hitting well enough to play and not playing regularly enough to get comfortable and hit. But last night he had the most important blow in the Yankees' 9-2 victory over the Blue Jays - a fifth-inning grand slam to the opposite field that turned a two-run game into a blowout. "

"In shaking out of a 2-for-28 slump, Jason Giambi's fifth-inning grand slam served as an early knockout punch as the Yankees throttled the Blue Jays, 9-2, at Rogers Centre -- a win that expanded the Yanks' AL wild-card lead to four games over Detroit."

"As the Yankees prepare for what now seems like an inevitable berth in the playoffs, Giambi reminded his teammates and manager Joe Torre of his value with a grand slam that led to an easy 9-2 victory at the Rogers Centre."

"Since the All-Star Game break, the Yankees have led the major leagues in seven major batting categories, including batting average, home runs and slugging percentage. Alex Rodriguez, who hit his 50th and 51st home runs against the Royals on Saturday night; and Jorge Posada, who is hitting .336, have been the catalysts."

"Every afternoon Joe Torre gathers coaches Kevin Long, Don Mattingly and Rob Thomson in his office and goes through the options he has at designated hitter. Since Jason Giambi returned from the disabled list and Hideki Matsui has done well in that spot, Torre has more than Johnny Damon to use there."

"Between them, Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon will earn $34 million this season, the reward for a combined 26 years in the majors that have resulted in seven All-Star appearances. Yet every day, when the two players walk into the Yankees' clubhouse, neither has any idea whether his name will be in the lineup."

"Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon are accustomed to being players their team depends upon. Giambi has been an RBI machine for most of his career and Damon a table-setter who scores many of those runs."

"Jason Giambi will not be disciplined for tacitly admitting earlier this season that he had used steroids. Commissioner Bud Selig announced yesterday that Giambi’s willingness to cooperate with the investigation being conducted by the former Senator George J. Mitchell into steroid use in baseball swayed his decision. "

"Upon learning that Bud Selig wasn't going to suspend him, Jason Giambi insists steroids are in his rear view mirror."

"Jason Giambi was pardoned by commissioner Bud Selig yesterday, as Major League Baseball announced that the Yankees' slugger would not be disciplined for his admission that he used performance-enhancing drugs."