Jason Giambi Retires: A Look at His Career’s Quick Decline

By Tim Boyle | Feb 17, 2015

For the last 5 seasons, slugger Jason Giambi clung to the life of a professional baseball player. The 2009 season was the last where he played in more than 100 games or had 300 plate appearances. Playing part-time with the Colorado Rockies and Cleveland Indians at the end of his career was strange to see. It was a far different role for the “Giambino” from the one those of us who grew up watching him remember. How did he go from one of the most feared hitters in baseball to an American League pinch hitter?

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Giambi is one of those sluggers from the Steroid Era whose statistics are proof enough to prosecute. His home runs and biceps increased as we approached his 2000 American League MVP season and beyond. He was more than a home run hitter though. In his prime, Giambi was frequently hitting well over .300 and leading the league in on-base percentage. Giambi had a great eye and was never afraid to take a walk. Five times in his career, nobody in the league walked more than he did.

As great of a player as he was, Giambi’s success was rather brief. He only ever made it to five All-Star Games—all coming consecutively from 2000-2004. It was in 2003, though, where we began to see the decline already. His batting average dropped from .314 in 2002 to .250 in 2003. In 2004, Giambi hit just .208 in 322 plate appearances. He’d never really be the same player again even if he was still hitting home runs and producing runs.

The last 5 seasons of Giambi’s career were insignificant with the exception of the occasional big home run in what was a rather otherwise meaningless game. In fact, it was rare Giambi ever had the chance to play in a game with a lot on the line. Only in 2003 did he ever experience a postseason victory when he went with the New York Yankees to the World Series. They eventually lost to the Florida Marlins in 6 games.

This trip to the championship came after three straight years of losing in the ALDS—twice with the Oakland Athletics and once with the Yankees. Giambi never got the World Series ring and left the Yankees before the 2009 season when they would go on to win for the first time since 2000.

Giambi’s decline was most evident in terms of his batting average. In his first 8 seasons with the Athletics, Giambi hit .300 with a .406 OBP. In 7 seasons with the Yankees, he hit just .260 with a still very good .404 OBP. In all of those seasons he spent with the Yankees, only his first in 2002 saw him finish with more than 150 hits. Giambi got old fast and we all know why.

Giambi finishes his career with 440 career home runs. Because he’s an admitted steroid user, Cooperstown won’t be welcoming him with open arms anytime soon. Maybe, over time, fans can get the bad taste out of their mouths and Giambi can be remembered for something more than another home run hitter who took the easy route.

Next: Posada and Williams also to have Nos. retired

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