Jason Giambi

He hit .333 (seventh in the league) with 43 homers (second; a career high), 137 RBIs (fourth; a career high), 108 runs (10th), and a .647 slugging percentage (third).

Giambi narrowly won the American League Most Valuable Player Award over Frank Thomas.

Jason Gilbert Giambi (born January 8, 1971) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter.

Giambi was selected in the 43rd round (1,118th overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers during the 1989 MLB draft.

He did not sign and went on to attend college.

Giambi attended Cal State Long Beach, where he played college baseball for the Long Beach State 49ers baseball team.

Giambi played collegiate summer baseball for the Alaska Goldpanners, in the Alaska Baseball League.

The Oakland Athletics selected Giambi in the second round (58th overall) of the 1992 Major League Baseball draft.

He started his career that year with the short-season Single-A Southern Oregon A's of the Northwest League, where he hit .317 in 13 games.

He was a member of the fourth place United States national baseball team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

The Athletics invited Giambi to spring training in 1993.

He then spent the 1993 season playing for the Modesto A's, the Oakland Athletics' Single-A farm team.

Giambi also played for the Huntsville Stars in the Southern League and the Kauai Emeralds in the Hawaii Winter Baseball league.

In his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, which began in 1995, Giambi played for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Colorado Rockies, and Cleveland Indians.

He is the older brother of the late MLB player Jeremy Giambi.

Giambi made his major league debut with the Athletics in 1995.

He led the league for the second year in a row in both on-base percentage (.477; a career best, and still the highest OBP in the AL since 1995) and walks (129).

He also led the league in slugging percentage (.660; a career best), doubles (47; a career high), times on base (320), and extra base hits (87).

He batted .342 (second in the American League; a career high) with 38 homers (seventh), 109 runs (sixth), and 120 RBIs (eighth).

He was second in the league in intentional walks (24), the only time in his career that he was in the top 10 in this category.

He finished a close second in MVP voting to Ichiro Suzuki, and won the Silver Slugger Award.

Both years, he led the Athletics to the post-season, both times losing in the American League Division Series to the New York Yankees in five games.

Originally used occasionally as an outfielder, third baseman, and first baseman, Giambi assumed the full-time first base job upon the trade of Mark McGwire to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1997.

Giambi led the team in 1998 with 27 home runs, 110 runs batted in and a .295 batting average.

In 1999, Giambi hit .315 with 33 homers, 105 walks (second in the league), and 123 RBIs (sixth).

He came in eighth in MLB Most Valuable Player Award voting.

Giambi was the American League (AL) MVP in 2000 while with the Athletics, and is a five-time All-Star, who led the AL in walks four times; in on-base percentage three times; and in doubles and slugging percentage once each; he also won the Silver Slugger Award twice.

Giambi has publicly apologized for using performance-enhancing drugs during his career.

Giambi attended Sacred Heart Private Catholic School in Covina, California.

He then attended South Hills High School in his native West Covina, where he was a three-sport standout.

Giambi was on the baseball team, whose roster also included his brother Jeremy and three other future major league players: infielder Shawn Wooten, pitchers Aaron Small and Cory Lidle.

He batted .386 during his three years of varsity baseball, leading his team to the state finals as a senior.

He was voted MVP in both baseball and basketball.

In American football, he was an All-League quarterback.

Giambi hit two home runs in Oakland's 2000 season opener on April 3, the first Athletics player to ever do so.

In the 2000 season, he led the league in on-base percentage (.476; leading the majors) and walks (137; a personal high and still the most walks in the AL since 1991).

His 2001 season was nearly identical.

On December 13, 2001, Giambi signed a seven-year $120-million deal with the New York Yankees.

In line with Yankee team rules, Giambi cut his long hair and shaved his goatee.

The signing upset many Athletics fans, who felt betrayed by the departure of their team leader.