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Giambi admits to steroids

NYB: "Hmmm. Sure looks like the Yanks are trying to make it happen. With all the ground swell against roids of late, me thinks they have a pretty good shot..."

Trying to make it happen and actually making it happen are two different things. If Giambi was an independant contractor and the Yanks wanted to break the deal, it might be simpler: but Giambi is backed by the Union and the CBA.

It will be very difficult for the Yanks to break this contract. Look for a buy-out sometime in the middle of next season.
 
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but Giambi is backed by the Union and the CBA.
Not exactly two organizations with a lot of reputational clout at this time. If there is ever a time to break a contract over this, its now. The fans are pissed as hell at the players and MLB right now. You have two of the most sacred records in all of sports permanently tainted because of this. The flavor of the moment might just be to make examples of the perpetrators, and I think many of the fans would love to see it.

I agree that it wont be easy, but conversely, I wouldn't "book it" either, as you claimed above.
 
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NYB: "Not exactly two organizations with a lot of reputational clout at this time."

Who cares about that? The MLBPA is the most powerful Union on the Planet. Did the Union care about "the popular vote" when they attacked the Commissioner's Office on the suspension of Roberto Alomar for spitting in John Hirschbeck's face?

"The fans are pissed as hell at the players and MLB right now."

Repeat: the Union could care LESS about what the fans think.

"I agree that it wont be easy, but conversely, I wouldn't "book it" either, as you claimed above."

We'll see. I think (unless a buy-out occurs), that your chances of seeing Giambi in pinstripes come Spring Training is about 99.9999999%.
 
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Sloop - I see what your saying, but I believe to say the Union is not getting at all pinched by what is going on right now is inaccurate. They used to say the steel workers union was stronger than Congress too, and through their greed look where they are today. Saying the players union doesnt care about fans or their dollars is analogous to saying the steel workers union doesnt care about US Steels customers or competition. If they ignore the fans, trust me, they will be history. There are substitute players for baseball and substititute entertainment for the whole shooting match. For example, after the 1994 strike, to this day I have not spent 1 cent of my own $$ for anything MLB, and I was one of the biggest fans there was. I know not everyone sticks to their guns like this, but this is pissing off so many people right now, and it wont go away since its in the books. The Alomar incident is nothing compared to this - this goes to the very history and foundation of the game. People are pissed, and I believe will start voting with their entertainment dollars. If they are not careful, I see MLB going the way of the NHL.

You say the union is powerful, but never forget in this country true power only comes from control of capital, either directly or indirectly. If MLB starts losing money, the union will suffer, and suffer big. If the union really doesnt give a shit what the fans think, by analogy then they really dont care how much power they have, believe me, they will lose it. Its just simple economics.
 
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DDN

2/8

One year later, Giambi is celebrated

RONALD BLUM

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content --> NEW YORK - Jason Giambi didn't have to apologize for this. Nearly a year to the day after he fidgeted through a news conference in which he all-but-admitted using steroids, the New York Yankees first baseman was celebrated for his charity.
No longer a pariah, he beamed with pride as he spoke Tuesday in a hospital auditorium along with former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman and country singer Garth Brooks about a new playroom facility they helped fund for sick children.
"It's been a lot of hard work and a lot of grinding it out," said Giambi, who overcame injury and illness to become the 2005 AL Comeback Player of the Year.
Last Feb. 10, he fended off questions as his agent sat by his side. This time, his mother, father and wife were in the audience at Mount Sinai Medical Center, listening to praise for his good deeds.
"Every New Yorker, they love to see somebody face adversity and still stand tall and not fall by the wayside," Giambi said afterward. "They like to see you man up and you take your beating, but you just keep going and ticking and keep working hard. And they love those stories. It's a tough town here, it really is, and a lot of players fall by the wayside out here."
One year after winning the AL MVP award with Oakland in 2000, he was given a $120 million, seven-year contract by the Yankees. He overcame a slow start in 2002 to post big numbers, but then a knee injury caused him to slump in the second half of 2003, and a parasite and a benign tumor felled him in 2004, when he hit just .208 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs.
After spending much of the offseason regaining strength, he worked for many months with hitting coach Don Mattingly to find his lost swing and was booed by Yankee Stadium fans - unhappy he hit just five home runs during the first three months and left many runners on base. His stroke finally returned in July, and he wound up batting .271 with 32 homers and 87 RBIs.
He says he spent much of this offseason preparing for 2006. Spring training starts next week, with Yankees position players due to begin workouts on Feb. 22.
"I feel great. I'm ready to go," Giambi said. "Last year, before the season started, I missed a couple of months just trying to get healthy, so it's been exciting to start from Day 1 like I've normally done, training and working out."
He said his weight is about 235-240 pounds, and he looked a lot meatier Tuesday than he did a year earlier. Giambi says he hasn't felt this good since 2002.
"He's telling me all the work he's doing. Hopefully, that's the case," Yankees manager Joe Torre said at another function later in the day.
When Giambi reported to Tampa, Fla., last year, he immediately went out to sign autographs for fans, trying to repair his relationship with them. In the end, he made peace with them by becoming productive again at the plate.
"I think it will be a lot easier," Torre said. "At this time last year, we were having a press conference at Yankee Stadium that was certainly uncomfortable to sit in, and I know it had to be 10 times more uncomfortable for him. With that stuff all behind him and just baseball ahead, and the second half of the year last year, I think it will be a more enjoyable spring for him."
Giambi was happy to talk about baseball matters: how he helped successfully recruit Johnny Damon to join the Yankees, and his unsuccessful talks with Nomar Garciaparra. Giambi thinks Damon will help loosen up a clubhouse that often seems stiff, at least during the time outsiders are allowed in.
He revealed that Torre allowed him to pump up the tunes last season - loud music had largely been absent in the Yankees' clubhouse in recent years.
"That was a big step in the right direction," Giambi said. "Joe was like, finally, `Oh, fine, go ahead, play the music. I don't care.' Donnie would tell me to turn it on every day, and Jete."
The Yankees' clubhouse often is empty in the hours before games, with captain Derek Jeter often the only regular player in front of his locker during times reporters are given access. Damon was known for helping to create a fun atmosphere in the Red Sox clubhouse, especially as Boston won the 2004 World Series for its first title since 1918.
Giambi predicts Damon, his former Oakland teammate, will fit in smoothly.
"He's witty and quick, and Johnny has a lot of fun. He'll be a good mix with the guys," Giambi said.
For a long time, fun and Giambi weren't two words that appeared together too often. Now that he's healthy, he could even joke about his offensive drop when playing as a designated hitter rather than a first baseman, where his defensive skills are subpar.
"My numbers are so staggered. When I play first, they're huge. When I DH, I stink," he said. "I definitely can win more games with my bat than I can lose with my glove."
Still, he doesn't want to create big expectations, especially at the start of the season.
"I'm not a great cold-weather player," he said.
He said he's pulled aside all the time by people on the street.
"We appreciate the way you handled it," is the message he received, "the way you went about, especially for the kids, and talking about it."
 
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If he didn't hit 20+ homers after the break he would still be pariah.

It's always going to be the same: if you have success on the field,
it pretty much takes care of anything you do off of it.
 
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ABJ

Giambi's remarks to be investigated

RONALD BLUM

Associated Press

NEW YORK - The baseball commissioner's office intends to investigate reported remarks by Jason Giambi that the sport should apologize for use of performance-enhancing drugs and the Yankees star's comment that he was "wrong for doing that stuff."
Rob Manfred, executive vice president for labor relations in the commissioner's office, spoke Friday with Yankees president Randy Levine about the matter, a baseball official with knowledge of the conversation said, speaking on condition of anonymity because baseball officials didn't want the matter publicly discussed.
"I was wrong for doing that stuff," Giambi was quoted as saying in Friday's editions of USA Today. "What we should have done a long time ago was stand up - players, ownership, everybody - and said: 'We made a mistake.'

Continued.....
 
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ABJ

Source: Baseball gives Giambi deadline

RONALD BLUM

Associated Press

NEW YORK - Jason Giambi has until Thursday to agree to a meeting with steroids investigator George Mitchell or else face possible discipline from baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
Lawyers from the players' union and Major League Baseball resumed talks Monday after a weekend break to set rules for a Giambi-Mitchell meeting.
The deadline is only for an agreement to meet, not for the actual session to take place.
Selig said June 6 that he wanted the meeting to take place within two weeks. Because Selig issued his announcement late that day, the deadline was set for this Thursday morning, a person involved in the talks said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no public statements had been authorized.

Continued......
 
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CPD

Giambi-Mitchell meeting not until July

6/23/2007, 7:48 a.m. EDT By RONALD BLUM
The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) ? Jason Giambi won't meet with baseball steroids investigator George Mitchell until July at the earliest.
In announcing Giambi's agreement to cooperate with the probe Thursday, baseball commissioner Bud Selig said Mitchell assured him "Giambi's interview will be scheduled promptly." But the busy calendars of the various lawyers who will attend the session make setting the date a complicated task.

Continued......
 
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We guessed cowboy or bounty hunter

If he wasn't playing baseball, what would Jason Giambi be doing? Probably working at a strip club. Says Giambi, "What else am I going to do? Seriously. Maybe bouncer at a strip joint. That's about all I'm qualified to do."

9243652


FOX Sports on MSN - News - Rumors, buzz and odd news - Number 0

:biggrin:
 
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