Giambi Is Looking to Oakland’s McGwire for Some Winning Tips

Mark McGwire says he sees a lot of himself as a young major league player in Jason Giambi.

Giambi hopes he will be able to see a lot more later on.

That’s one of the reasons they’ve become such good friends this season as teammates on the Oakland Athletics: two players who grew up in Southern California with a passion for baseball success.

And McGwire, with a team-record 302 home runs and an established superstar image in 11 seasons with the A’s, is enjoying doing what he can to help Giambi reach his potential in his first full major league season.

“Mark has sort of taken him under his wing,” Oakland Manager Art Howe said. “And there’s a lot of McGwire rubbing off.”

Giambi has 15 home runs, 52 runs batted in and is hitting .309 midway through the season. McGwire is having a big year with 25 homers and a .324 average.

“I’ve developed a great friendship with Mark, and that’s probably one of the best things that’s come out of this year for me,” Giambi said. “He’s really helped me mentally, and he’s helped me with some of the pitchers I haven’t seen before. He’s given me good advice on dealing with the media and the fans, and he’s helped me stay away from any adversity. It seems like he’s always looking out for me.”

McGwire says he has enjoyed their friendship, and is glad he has been able to help.

“This game is a lot mental,” McGwire said. “Things like learning to be patient at the plate. It comes down a lot of times to not letting yourself get frustrated, and I’ve tried to help him with those kinds of things. It took me five or six years in the big leagues before I learned some things, and if I can help him with them earlier, then that’s great.”

Giambi says he’s pleased about how far he has come this season. He played in 54 games for Oakland last year, hitting .256 with six home runs and 25 RBIs after batting .342 with three homers and 41 RBIs in 55 games for triple-A Edmonton.

Giambi thinks one reason for his success this year is the opportunity to play regularly. A year ago, Tony La Russa mostly platooned him at third base against right-handed pitching.

“Art came to me at the start of this season and said, ‘I want you in the lineup every day.’ Becoming an everyday player has really helped,” Giambi said.

Giambi started the season at first base when McGwire was injured, then moved to third when Scott Brosius was hurt. Brosius was hitting .350 when he was injured, and when Brosius returned, Howe shifted Giambi to left field. Giambi says he hadn’t played in left since his freshman year at Long Beach State.

“I know I’ve still got a lot to learn about playing left,” Giambi said. “But I think their feeling that they can move me around shows that I’ve grown up a lot as a player. The important thing is that no matter where they’ve put me defensively, it hasn’t affected me as a hitter.

“I think that [versatility] makes me that much more valuable to this team. There are guys in baseball who get into fights because they’re not playing their position. But it doesn’t bother me as long as I get to swing the bat. That’s what I do best. That’s my game.”

Giambi remembers what his father, John, told him and his younger brother, Jeremy, who recently signed with Kansas City after playing three years at Cal State Fullerton.

“When he was teaching us to hit, he’d always say that if you swing the bat, they’ll find a place for you to play,” Giambi said. “And that’s the way it’s worked out for me.”

Giambi thinks he might have done even better in the first half of the season had he not been troubled by tendinitis in his right wrist and thumb.

“The team didn’t want to say much about it at the time,” Giambi said. “Playing in some of the cold places we played early in the season probably was a factor. I think I’ve got that under control now, but if not, maybe I’ll take some days off after the All-Star break to rest it. Art has been really good about offering me the days off if I think I need them, but I didn’t want to come out of the lineup.”

Howe has been pleased with Giambi.

“He’s a tough kid,” Howe said. “He’s got a great swing, and he uses the whole field. He’s disciplined at that plate, and I like that. He still has some work to do as a left fielder, but that will come to him. I don’t know where his position finally will end up being. But I’d rather not use him as a designated hitter at this stage because he’s so young.”

Giambi, 25, didn’t play his first full season of professional baseball until 1993, but moved up rapidly. He was Oakland’s second-round draft pick in 1992, but spent most of that summer playing for the U.S. Olympic team in Barcelona. He was in the minors only two full seasons before being called up last year.

“Playing at Long Beach State for Dave Snow helped a lot,” Giambi said. “When you learn to play the game right from the start, it helps. It put me ahead of a lot of people.”

Giambi was drafted in the late rounds as a high school senior at West Covina, but had only the one scholarship offer to Long Beach State. He hit .414 over three seasons with the 49ers.

Giambi has become stronger since then, and is hitting with more power. “I’ve got my weight up to around 220 pounds, and [weight] lifting has helped me,” he said. “I’m staying healthy.”

Giambi says McGwire makes sure he doesn’t miss any of those workouts. “He’ll call me in the morning to make sure I’m going to lift,” Giambi said, smiling.

Howe says he has no doubt that McGwire has helped Giambi as a hitter this season. “Mark doesn’t realize sometimes how much he does for this ballclub, off and on the field,” Howe said.

And Giambi says one of his goals is to some day be held in the same regard as McGwire.

“I’d like to see myself in the same class with him some day,” Giambi said. “I don’t mean all he’s done from a home run standpoint. I mean the kind of player he is. If you say Oakland A’s, you think of Mark McGwire. It’s that kind of respect. That’s the key in this game. If you can achieve something like that, you’ve done a lot.”