Jason Giambi’s mouth has gotten him in the news lately. First he compared the new Yankee Stadium to the Titanic (although he claims he meant it as a compliment!)
Now he is making headlines for an interview with GQ (hat tip to Was Watching.) In the article, Jason talks about his time in New York, and about his teammates’ quirks, including A-Rod’s neuroses and Roger Clemens’ weirdness.
Nate Penn, author of the piece, asks him about the depiction of him in Joe Torre and Tom Verducci’s “The Yankee Years.” Then he asks Giambi whether he agrees with David Wells that the book “violates the clubhouse code of confidentiality.” Giambi’s response:
I think it’s tough. I wouldn’t do it. But at the same time, it’s hard to pick which one is Verducci and which one is Torre, you know what I’m saying? They wrote it together. I think it would be very unfair to put a judgment on it until I definitely knew who said what. I have better things to worry about.
He wouldn’t do it? Really? Then why did he cooperate with “The Yankee Years”, then? He is directly quoted in the book, and Tom Verducci thanked him in the acknowledgements section for his cooperation. Besides, given that cooperation, wouldn’t he be able to assess the book well enough to put a judgment on it?
So yeah, that statement is a little disingenuous out of Giambi. Especially given what Jason did to violate the clubhouse code with working with Verducci (and Torre!) on that Sports Illustrated “Lonely Yankee” cover story. Or did he think that revealing to Verducci about how he told Torre to “stop coddling A-Rod” was a good thing?
Besides, after reading in “The Yankee Years” about all of the nasty things Torre did and said to undermine Alex, from snotty, petty comments, to not inviting him to the Safe at Home Dinner, I have to wonder, when did Joe ever start coddling Alex?
Speaking of the Lonely Yankee, in “The Yankee Years,” Verducci and Torre don’t mention that SI cover story and how it sent A-Rod into a slump in September of 2006, just before the playoffs. Given their contempt for Alex, you’d think they would have been proud of that!
As for Giambi, I like him, and I appreciated his outsized personality and his big hits with the Yankees. And, by nearly all accounts, I hear he’s a good guy and very fan-friendly. I just think it would have been nice if the reporter had asked him about his involvement with “The Yankee Years.”
At any rate, Squawker Jon and I will get to see Jason Giambi’s return to Yankee Stadium tonight. I’m predicting at least one homer for Jason.
What do you think? Leave us a comment!
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