Giambi's Mysterious Power Surge

[YankeeDoodle]

Eh well...I guess I meant that if he didn't know it then, he should know it now.

[MC Hammer]

Heh well it's not like its 1990. I think the negative effects are well known. I mean all he'd have to do is google steroids.

[YankeeDoodle]

When was the internet invented? *looks up Al Gore's bio* Or maybe you did?

 

I don't know what's it like in the life of a baseball player...well, the ones we're talking about here are in an another category. Carlos Zambrano spends a lot of time on it, but other than that, I happen to think many players shun technology for some reason?

 

I recall something about David Ortiz advocating for MLB to educate youngsters in the D.R. about the hazards of steroids. Good cause.

 

So what about Barry "Rehabbing-my-knee" Bonds? Is he also convincted in the court of public opinion. And he's probably the bigger jerk of all. <_>

[MC Hammer]

Well I hate Barry Bonds more than I hate anyone. I wont even get in to why I hate him. SID f***ING BREAM. There I said it. Anyway, back when people were saying Giambi was the face of steroids I couldn't help but laugh. Gimme a break.

 

Barry is DONE. He was done when he told Pedro Gomez he was done. Thank God, he wont get to pass the white Babe Ruth(his words not mine) and Hank. He has already set the season HR record and that will proabably never be touched. Do we really want the poster boy for steroids to hold the All time HR record? I'm sick to my stomach that he's in the top 3.

[26 to 6]

i dont understad why all of you guys are getting on Giambi. Hes not the culprit today, Palmeiro is. God forbid a person triumphs over adversity and is successful again. He put in countless hours of work, he was extremely dedicated, he never lost touch of the goal, and now you guys are villifying him for achieving success again. I admire Giambi for this, his first 2 years as a Yankee were very productive (regardless of popular belief, lets not forget that he hit over 40 homers in both of hist first 2 seasons with the Yanks), last year was a nightmare, and up until July of this year has been a nightmare. Give the guy a break.

[bobby jr]

i dont understad why all of you guys are getting on Giambi. Hes not the culprit today, Palmeiro is. God forbid a person triumphs over adversity and is successful again. He put in countless hours of work, he was extremely dedicated, he never lost touch of the goal, and now you guys are villifying him for achieving success again. I admire Giambi for this, his first 2 years as a Yankee were very productive (regardless of popular belief, lets not forget that he hit over 40 homers in both of hist first 2 seasons with the Yanks), last year was a nightmare, and up until July of this year has been a nightmare. Give the guy a break.

 

First 3 months of 2005 5 HR.

 

July HR 14. Ties all time Yankee record.

 

He has also gained weight and looks like he did when he was on steroids.

 

The circumstancial evidence points to him being back on steroids or something similar.

That worked for him before, it makes logical sense that he went back to it.

[MC Hammer]

April:	3HR	6RBI	.395/.373/.224
May:	1HR  	7RBI	.349/.315/.241
June:	1HR	9RBI	 .474/.431/.310
July:	14HR	24RBI	 .524/.974/.355

Just look at the numbers 26 to 6. I can understand someone raising their average, and their OBP steadily during a season, but no one suddely regains all their power, from 2 years ago, from the 31st of 1 month to the 1st of the next. Just doesn't happen without steroids.

[See Red]

If he's bigger now than he was at the beginning of the season -- it's steroids. It has to be. You can't add muscle during the season and still manage to have the energy to hit 14 out in a month. The regular season is about mantaining muscle and I don't care how dedicated you are, you can not add muscle during the regular season.

 

That said, I haven't paied attention to whether or not he's gotten bigger. I'm just saying, if he has, it's steroids.

[CrespoBlows]

I wouldn't be stunned if was on steriods, but let's not make this a witch hunt.

 

Every single one of you demanding Giambi be tested, sound like Joe McCarthy (history reference) it's pathetic, just drop it, and watch the man go to work.

[MC Hammer]

I wouldn't be stunned if was on steriods, but let's not make this a witch hunt.

 

Every single one of you demanding Giambi be tested, sound like Joe McCarthy (history reference) it's pathetic, just drop it, and watch the man go to work.

 

Baseball is a game of numbers. Look at them. There is no way that this can take place unless that player used steroids. Like I said before show me one other instance of any player having this big of a spike in their power numbers(not coming back from an injury), and I'll never say that he's on steroids again.

[CrespoBlows]

Baseball is a game of numbers. Look at them. There is no way that this can take place unless that player used steroids. Like I said before show me one other instance of any player having this big of a spike in their power numbers(not coming back from an injury), and I'll never say that he's on steroids again.

 

Roger Maris went from 39 HR's to 61 HR's in the span of one year. (1960 to 1961)

 

Babe Ruth went from 29 HR's to 54 HR's in the span of one year. (1919 to 1920)

 

Willie Mays went from 4 HR's (1952) to 41 HR's (1954)

[bobby jr]

I wouldn't be stunned if was on steriods, but let's not make this a witch hunt.

 

Every single one of you demanding Giambi be tested, sound like Joe McCarthy (history reference) it's pathetic, just drop it, and watch the man go to work.

 

Watch him go to work? We did that before, we watched him go to work with two HR in game seven of the 2003 ALCS. The problem is, Giambi was on steroids when he hit the HR, and this enabled the Yankees to go to the World Series.

 

No, the days of naivety are over. This isn't a witch hunt, nobody wants to see Giambi banned. But the questions are legitimate ones given his history and the Canseco revelations, the congressional hearings and all.

 

Sweeping the questions under the rug won't work.

[bobby jr]

Roger Maris went from 39 HR's to 61 HR's in the span of one year. (1960 to 1961)

 

Babe Ruth went from 29 HR's to 54 HR's in the span of one year. (1919 to 1920)

 

Willie Mays went from 4 HR's (1952) to 41 HR's (1954)

 

We are talking about a quantum leap in performance during the same season with Giambi. Not two years as with Mays, or Babe Ruth's adjusting to being an everyday player instead of pitching.

 

 

Giambi went from looking completly lost at the plate in April and May to looking like the best hitter in baseball in July 2005, a period of two months, during which time his weight seemed to be increasing. I have not seen him closeup myself but I have heard others who have say that he has the body he did two years ago.

[CrespoBlows]

Watch him go to work? We did that before, we watched him go to work with two HR in game seven of the 2003 ALCS. The problem is, Giambi was on steroids when he hit the HR, and this enabled the Yankees to go to the World Series.

 

No, the days of naivety are over. This isn't a witch hunt, nobody wants to see Giambi banned. But the questions are legitimate ones given his history and the Canseco revelations, the congressional hearings and all.

 

Sweeping the questions under the rug won't work.

 

Big problem though, there was ZERO policy on steriods, so even if he did inject himself 15,000 times a day, you couldn't do a damn thing about it. It wasn't illegal then, even if was cheating, I blame MLB for not setting a policy on it.

 

Canseco couldn't out Giambi, he never played with him.

[YankeeDoodle]

Well, according to skipper Torre, the Yanks have no weird-loooking stuff in the clubhouse

 

Torre said the Yankees have taken measures to ensure that nothing available for players to ingest in the clubhouse could have the slightest hint of being a banned substance.

 

"We have gum, that's pretty much it," he said. "Most of the other stuff was just drinks, but anything with any curiosity, we have eliminated."

From Giambi sorry for Palmeiro's plight

 

bobby jr, would you like to do a sweep of the clubhouse?

[26 to 6]

Just look at the numbers 26 to 6. I can understand someone raising their average, and their OBP steadily during a season, but no one suddely regains all their power, from 2 years ago, from the 31st of 1 month to the 1st of the next. Just doesn't happen without steroids.

He has already been tested and came up clear, and he will be tested a second time, if he hasnt been already and again, he will test negative. He's not stupid, he doesnt want another PR disaster. He cares too much about people liking him, if he is taking steroids, and is caught doing so, then all the work he did to earn back his fans will be gome. Give the mancredit for performing, dont accuse him of cheating. Steroids dont increase your discipline at the plate, steroids dont help your OBP, Steroids dont help your work ethic, steroids dont do any of that, anybody can take steroids, but just because you're on steroids doesnt mean that automatically you're going to hit a bunch of homers, so there is no evidence, this power surge could just as easily be coming from steroids as it is from hard work. And Hard Work is something he has put in every day since February when position players reported. Give him a break, im sure if he was doin all of this with a Red B on his cap that this wouldnt be as big a deal to you guys.

[Bam-Tino]

Hmm maybe because they aren't batting with Mattingly? A year of injuries and parasites and he comes back with a vengence.. Oh my bad Giambi, you can't do that... That must mean you are on steroids again.. Lord knows we cant get over things and on with our lives and careeers... It's just not done, this is baseball after all.... There's no streaks in baseball.... Who are we kidding?

[MC Hammer]

He has already been tested and came up clear, and he will be tested a second time, if he hasnt been already and again, he will test negative. He's not stupid, he doesnt want another PR disaster. He cares too much about people liking him, if he is taking steroids, and is caught doing so, then all the work he did to earn back his fans will be gome. Give the mancredit for performing, dont accuse him of cheating. Steroids dont increase your discipline at the plate, steroids dont help your OBP, Steroids dont help your work ethic, steroids dont do any of that, anybody can take steroids, but just because you're on steroids doesnt mean that automatically you're going to hit a bunch of homers, so there is no evidence, this power surge could just as easily be coming from steroids as it is from hard work. And Hard Work is something he has put in every day since February when position players reported. Give him a break, im sure if he was doin all of this with a Red B on his cap that this wouldnt be as big a deal to you guys.

 

I said in my post before last that steroids don't help your BA or OBP, and they didn't for Giambi. Those numbers were steadily rising from the begining of the season. His power numbers however went from almost none to the best in the league.

 

No this power surge couldn't have come from hard work because #1 players don't have enough time during the season to improve their skills, weight, and power that dramatically, and #2 Don Mattingly isn't Jesus Christ Jr.

 

Hmm maybe because they aren't batting with Mattingly? A year of injuries and parasites and he comes back with a vengence.. Oh my bad Giambi, you can't do that... That must mean you are on steroids again.. Lord knows we cant get over things and on with our lives and careeers... It's just not done, this is baseball after all.... There's no streaks in baseball.... Who are we kidding?

 

I thought the whole parasite thing was just a lie to cover up the roids. Guess not? Yes players do get hot and go on streaks, but they don't all the sudden go from 1 HR a month to 14. If that was the case then when Manny and Papi got hot they'd 20 HRs a month, and you don't see that happening do you? Do you? Has A-rod ever got hot and hit 14 HRs in a month? How about Matsui? Sheffield? It's funny that you would just call hitting 14HRs in a month a streak because the last time it happend for the Yankees was when the Mick(I believe) did it back in the 60's. So now you're going to tell me that these "streaks" of sudden power only come around once every 40 years?

 

I've said it 3 times now. You're arguements are all BS until you can show me another player who has had this much of a power(and only power) surge this late in a season(not battling injuries) and I'll admit that Giambi isn't on roids. Until then, steroids are the only logical answer.

[riverside sluggers]

people people, steroids helps build strength--the strength that will be behind the bat to belt the ball into the next district

[See Red]

Give him a break, im sure if he was doin all of this with a Red B on his cap that this wouldnt be as big a deal to you guys.

 

Yes... it would be. A cheater is a cheater.

 

Must your argument for everything be... "Well, if it was a Sox player..."?

[MC Hammer]

Yes... it would be. A cheater is a cheater.

 

Must your argument for everything be... "Well, if it was a Sox player..."?

 

Exactly. That's a lame arguement. If that's you're only defense for Giambi then just keep it to yourself.

[CrespoBlows]

Facts are, Giambi is on a hot streak, even bad players can get hot. Does Mark Bellhorn's 3 HR's in 3 games mean anything to you? That MUST have been steriods, because he was striking out as much as Giambi was.

 

Giambi is no longer missing mistake pitches, when pitchers throw pitches down the middle, at 90 mph Giambi's crushing it. It's not like he's hitting 100 mph fastballs out, he's hitting all the mistake pitches.

 

He plays in Yankee stadium as well, so many of his HR's, are popups in Fenway.

 

Last of all, Giambi has always had a very good eye, he's been taking pitches that are close, and not swinging at bad pitches. s***, even you could hit the pitch you want, and Giambi seems to be doing this every time up.

[riverside sluggers]

Facts are, Giambi is on a hot streak, even bad players can get hot. Does Mark Bellhorn's 3 HR's in 3 games mean anything to you? That MUST have been steriods, because he was striking out as much as Giambi was.

 

yeah exactly Mark Bellhorn's 3 homeruns in 3 games is exactly the same as Giambi just having 5 homeruns from April through June, and then breaking out with 14 in July

[MC Hammer]

Facts are, Giambi is on a hot streak, even bad players can get hot. Does Mark Bellhorn's 3 HR's in 3 games mean anything to you? That MUST have been steriods, because he was striking out as much as Giambi was.

 

Giambi is no longer missing mistake pitches, when pitchers throw pitches down the middle, at 90 mph Giambi's crushing it. It's not like he's hitting 100 mph fastballs out, he's hitting all the mistake pitches.

 

He plays in Yankee stadium as well, so many of his HR's, are popups in Fenway.

 

Last of all, Giambi has always had a very good eye, he's been taking pitches that are close, and not swinging at bad pitches. s***, even you could hit the pitch you want, and Giambi seems to be doing this every time up.

OK I'm going to say this ONE MORE TIME! Stop saying it's just a hot streak unless you can back that up with the evidence I asked for. I've yet to be able to find a player that hit 5 HRs in the first 3 months then all the sudden exploded for 14 and raises his SLG .543 points. This doesn't happen. Bellhorn may have hit 3 HRs in 3 games, but did he sudden triple his HR total in one month? Did his SLG suddenly rise .543 points from one month to another? No? Then it's not a valid arugment.

 

First, stop defending a player that doesn't deserve to be defended. Second, stop just saying "well it's just a hot streak" because if so this is the greatest hot streak in the history of baseball. I can't believe that this many people are going to come here and give their half assed defense of Jason Giambi.

[CrespoBlows]

No, you miss the point entirely. People can get hot, whether it's someone who's hot for 3 days, or 3 months, hot streaks happen. But you guys are thinking Giambi's hitting soaring magestic HR's, watch his HR's they aren't traveling that far. He's hitting pitches that are down the middle, to the short RF porch.

[riverside sluggers]

you do realize that everyone on ESPn, Fox sports, average joe fans, etc. are thinking like this? How can we all not suspect him of doing so, with his name being called up last winter for the steroids scanda, this "hot streak" of his and now "truthful" Raffy has been caught doing hard steroids

[riverside sluggers]

But you guys are thinking Giambi's hitting soaring magestic HR's, watch his HR's they aren't traveling that far. He's hitting pitches that are down the middle, to the short RF porch.

 

Hes belting homeruns peroid and you are making it to be all 14 of his have been in Yankee Stadium, 6 of the 14 have been away from NY including fenway Park

[CrespoBlows]

Are you the piss man? You have no prove, and I'll bet that he's been tested at least twice. But you guys have to take into the fact that Giambi has a great hitters eye, and he's not a skinny guy. He's going to hit his share of HR's out. Just look at all his HR's this month, all of them have probably been middle in, or right down the midde. If you're a lefty in Yankee Stadium you should be able to hit those balls out.

[MC Hammer]

No, you miss the point entirely. People can get hot, whether it's someone who's hot for 3 days, or 3 months, hot streaks happen. But you guys are thinking Giambi's hitting soaring magestic HR's, watch his HR's they aren't traveling that far. He's hitting pitches that are down the middle, to the short RF porch.

 

Actually, you're missing the point entirely. It doesn't matter if all of his HRs go out after bouncing off the RFers head. A HR is a HR is a HR. Yes I agree that I've seen almost every player in the league get hot for atleast a few days, sometimes even a few months. But, in my 13 years of watching baseball I've yet to see anyone hit 3 times as many HRs in one month, as they did in the 3 previous.

 

Look, lets once again think about this logically. Whens the last time Giambi hit anywhere near 14HRs in a month? When he was on steroids right? Well lets see since coming back without steroids he hit 5 HRs in 3 months. Then all the sudden he goes from hitting 1HR a month to 14 ... his SLG is doubled. Manny Ramirez is one of the best hitters in the league, has he ever seen a power surge like this? How about Ortiz? Vald? Pujols? Derek Lee? A-rod? Sheffield? BABE f***ING RUTH!? If you don't see that this guy is on steroids then I suggest you start pulling your own hair, because if you don't get your head out of your ass soon your going to suffocate.

 

Again, don't even reply again unless you can come to me with the numbers of another player who has done this. Just saying "uhhhh ... he's not on steroids" is not a very convincing arguement. Go look up some stats and come back at me with a legitament arguement.

[CrespoBlows]

LOOK AT THE PITCHES HE HITS OUT! He works the count in his favor, gets his pitch, and drives it to right field, and if he doesn't get it he's happy with the walk. You're arguement is "yeah he had a good month, and he must be on steriods" What about David Ortiz? In 2003 he had 5 HR's on July 3rd, then finshied with 31. That's a serious power spike, but I don't look at the fact that he might have taken steriods, he's fixed the holes in his swing, like Giambi has.