Jason Giambi’s career quietly winds down

Good story at SI by Chris Ballard about a dude who I bet most casual fans would guess quit playing a couple of years ago. Jason Giambi: former MVP, former $23 million a year player, former steroids poster boy.

For the past three years he’s been a pinch hitter in Colorado. He had a nice blip of a season in 2011, but it’s winding down now. And Giambi, who has long been on-the-record contrite about his and the game’s notorious steroids years, is waxing reflective:

And yet here he is. Now, at 41, Giambi has an 11-month-old daughter named London Shay. When I asked what he’d like people to say about her father when she’s 10 years old, he stopped for a moment. “Wow ... I would love for them to say, ‘One time in his career, he made a mistake but he worked really hard and got his honor back and he was honest,’” Giambi said. “I think that’s the most important [thing]. I’ve been on top of the world in this game, I’ve won the most valuable player, and I’ve been in the gutter in this game. But I’m still here.”

Not many former superstars continue on as role players after their elite skills have faded into average ones. Giambi says it’s about simply loving the game. Part of me wonders if there isn’t some aspect of penance to it, even if it’s a subconscious thing. Like Giambi feels as though he owes the game yeoman’s work after his tainted time at the top.

Either way, Giambi leaving the game, as it seems he’s poised to, sort of feels like the end of an era.