He wanted it and tonight he gets it. Jason Giambi said that coming to the Yankees was about more than the $120 million. It was about the big payday. October. The Canyon of Heroes. Rings.
“The draw to come here was to have this opportunity,” Giambi said.
Of course, around here opportunity also comes with peril. Because Jason Giambi is about to begin to define himself as a Yankee. He was everything promised from April though September, but it is in October that Yankees delineate themselves. His contract is for seven years, and yet his legacy may be formed this month. History tells us that the third great slugger bought by George Steinbrenner is about to make a lasting impression based on what happened with the first two.
Reggie Jackson came to the Yankees in 1977 with pomp and pomposity, he announced himself the straw that stirred and mostly stirred controversy in his debut regular season in pinstripes. But he hit those three homers on three consecutive pitches in a clinching Game 6 of the World Series against Los Angeles and became Mr. October.
Dave Winfield arrived in 1981 a big man with a bigger contract than Steinbrenner thought he had given. A cost-of-living clause that The Boss misinterpreted meant Winfield’s Yankee days were going to be a living hell unless he brought title after title. But the only title he would end up with was Mr. May not long after going 1-for-22 in a six-game World Series loss to Los Angeles.
Winfield’s first Yankee season was Jackson’s last and the final World Series appearance until 1996. It was a World Series loss last year that spurred Steinbrenner to renovate his roster with the centerpiece of change being Giambi.
And this is how he comes to this stage tonight. Yankee Stadium, Division Series Game 1 against the Angels. This could be the palace Giambi envisioned full of red, white and blue bunting, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto and Whitey Ford and a flyover by military jets and a fly in by Challenger the bald eagle. Or this could quickly become a dungeon for Giambi with a mistimed slump labeling him forever. Mr. October or Mr. May.
If you think that it does not have resonance, then know that Winfield refused an interview for this story through two different agents, one of whom asked why he would want to rekindle those memories.
“I’m not a big guy to daydream,” Giambi said. “I will live in the moment. To be truthful, I haven’t thought about all that stuff. The big thing was to get acclimated in my first year. It’s been a test drive to get ready for the postseason.”
Giambi acquitted himself well in the regular season with his power, patience and poise. And yet if it really was a test drive, it was a Hyundai on a country road compared to the Indianapolis 500-like challenges that begin tonight. Giambi thinks that being in the opposing dugout the last two Division Series against the Yankees has prepared him for this moment. Yet, in many ways, it has made this October more pressurized for him.
Because his former team, the A’s, are in this postseason, as well. What if Oakland, minus its great slugger, actually goes further than the Yankees, actually finally beats the Yanks in an ALCS? And because the Cardinals are in this postseason with Tino Martinez, who had to leave New York begrudgingly due to Giambi’s presence. What if St. Louis goes further than the Yanks, what if the Cards beat the Yanks in a World Series?
“That is more of a media sticking point,” Giambi said. “I came here to win the World Series. I didn’t come here to finish second. It is too much energy for me to worry about what I can’t control. It’s not like I am wishing those guys (Oakland) bad. Those guys always will be special to me. I didn’t leave there because I hated it. I left for this opportunity here.”
And now the opportunity has arrived. Will Giambi be like Jackson, the main man for championships? Or will he be like Winfield, a symbol of more than a decade of parade-less seasons? No player faces more pressure as this postseason begins than Giambi. Hero or goat? Champagne or pain? Mr. October or Mr. May?
MR. OCTOBER vs. MR. MAY vs. MR. ?
A comparative statistical look at the Yankee postseason careers of Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield, along with Jason Giambi’s performance in Oakland:
NAME SERIES OPP. H AB R HR RBI AVG
Reggie Jackson 1977 ALCS KC 2 16 1 0 1 .125
1977 WS LA 9 20 10 5 8 .450
1978 ALCS KC 6 13 5 2 6 .462
1978 WS LA 9 23 2 2 8 .391
1980 ALCS KC 3 11 1 0 0 .273
1981 ALDS MIL 6 20 4 2 4 .300
1981 ALCS OAK 0 4 1 0 1 .000
1981 WS LA 4 12 3 1 1 .333
TOTALS 39 119 27 12 29 .328
Dave Winfield 1981 ALDS MIL 7 20 2 0 0 .350
1981 ALCS OAK 2 13 2 0 2 .154
1981 WS LA 1 22 0 0 1 .045
TOTALS 10 55 4 0 3 .182
Jason Giambi 2000 ALDS NYY 4 14 2 0 1 .286
2001 ALDS NYY 6 17 2 1 4 .353
TOTALS 10 31 4 1 5 .323