The 2005 AL Comeback Player Of The Year has already apologized once — without specifying what he was apologizing for.  On Thursday, the Yankees Jason Giambi once offered his regrets, this time to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

“I was wrong for doing that stuff,” Giambi told USA TODAY on Wednesday before playing the Chicago White Sox. “What we should have done a long time ago was stand up ” players, ownership, everybody ” and said: ‘We made a mistake.’

“We should have apologized back then and made sure we had a rule in place and gone forward. ¦ Steroids and all of that was a part of history. But it was a topic that everybody wanted to avoid. Nobody wanted to talk about it.”

He said Wednesday he’s thankful for MLB’s steroid and amphetamine testing program that was revised before last season. MLB does not test for HGH, but Giambi said he does not use the drug, either illegally or with a doctor’s prescription.

“Unfortunately, (the rumors) are going to be a part of it. But that’s OK. I’m probably tested more than anybody else. I’m not hiding anything,” said Giambi, hitting .273 with five homers this season. “That stuff didn’t help me hit home runs. I don’t care what people say, nothing is going to give you that gift of hitting a baseball.”

When asked, “So why did you take steroids?” Giambi said: “Maybe one day I’ll talk about it, but not now.”

Good to see we’re no longer avoiding the issue, then.