Prior to getting a beer in the face during last night’s 16-4 win at Oakland, Yankee whipping boy Jason Giambi spoke to the Daily News’ Sam Borden about his most recent humiliation.
Giambi wasn’t happy when the Yankees raised the possibility of a stint in Triple-A, but he was particularly peeved when he learned that reporters knew about the request before he did. He spent the past few days stewing over the situation and told one friend that he was “very upset” about it.
Yesterday, he spoke out.
“I was pissed,” Giambi told the Daily News. He added that, in his mind, the idea of a demotion was an overreaction to his recent struggles at the plate.
“That’s a situation where (going to the minors) was something they wanted to talk about, then okay, let’s talk about it,” he said. “But then they can come to (reporters) and say this is out there. It wasn’t right.”
(The minors) might have been a viable option if I hit .190 in spring training and then I was hitting .190 now,” Giambi said before the Yanks’ rout of the A’s. “But I mean, that’s not what happened. I was hitting really well in the spring and everything was great. Then I went through a tough stretch, but give me five more hits and I’m back where it’s not a problem. No one would be making a big deal of it then.”
I’m not sure if I’ve read of a player touting his numbers in exhibition games before, but I guess Hal Bodley was right. Spring Training is very important.