Jason Giambi has carved out a unique job with the Indians. Could Manny Ramirez, another aging slugger with a tainted past, do the same?
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Jason Giambi has invented a new role on a big league team. He is a coach, assistant manager and clubhouse guru, who can still come off the bench and hit a ball 400 feet. In an unsentimental business, the Indians have continually manipulated their roster to keep Giambi, 43, on it for the last two seasons.
It worked so well for the Indians last year that the White Sox are doing the same thing with Paul Konerko this year. In April, on the Indians first trip to Chicago, Konerko talked to Giambi about how to make the job work.
The first thing Giambi told him is something big-time, middle-of-the-order big leaguers aren't used to hearing.
"It's not about you anymore," said Giambi. "It's about the team. It's about everybody else but you.
"If you're in the manager's office every other day trying to get at bats, the players are going to see right through that and you're done."
There are a lot of reasons the Indians' clubhouse has stayed a positive place through the first two disappointing months of this season. Manager Terry Francona and his coaches are one. Jason Giambi is another.
There is a reason Giambi has made every trip with the team this year despite been on the disabled list twice.
"The more G talks, the more I like it," Francona is fond of saying.
It wouldn't work if it was just the manager saying that.
"We have a lot of talent in this room and we know it," said center fielder Michael Bourn. "It's about putting it together. We've fallen into this deal where we're still kind of young at some spots.
"When you're young, and things don't go exactly as you want, you might not think you can climb out of that hole, but you can. It's just playing baseball one game at a time. That's the formula and we have Big G to help us do that. I think that's his best attribute."
The White Sox, by the way, do not resemble the sad-sack team that was beaten often and badly last year. A lot of it has to do with Cuban rookie Jose Abreu, who is on the disabled list. Konerko, who has driven in 11 runs, has had a hand in things as well.
Chicago's other big league team picked last week to announce that Manny Ramirez had been hired as a player-coach for their Class AAA Iowa team. Cubs President Theo Epstein, who dealt with Manny-being-Manny all those years in Boston, said there's absolutely no way Ramirez will be promoted to the big leagues as a player with the Cubs.
Epstein wants Ramirez to play a couple of days a week and spend the rest of his time working with the Cubs young hitters. If he ignites interest in another big league team, Epstein said Ramirez is free to go. It sounds like he's in training for a Giambi-like job in the big leagues.
There are similarities. Ramirez, one year younger than Giambi at 42, was suspended twice for using performance-enhancing drugs. Giambi, before the days of drug testing, testified in federal court in the BALCO hearings concerning Barry Bonds.
Ramirez, one of the best right-handed hitters in history, has 555 homers in his career. Giambi, a left-handed hitter, has 440.
As strange and unpredictable as Ramirez was during his hey day, Giambi's reputation of "raking like an All-Star and partying like a rock star' was well earned.
When Giambi says, "I've been to the top of the mountain and down in the gutter in this game," he could easily be talking about Ramirez as well.
The question is can Ramirez do what Giambi is doing now? He was in Boston last week, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Red Sox World Series championship. He apologized for his bad behavior as a Red Sox. He said he's gotten religion and is ready to help the Cubs young hitters.
Giambi knows Ramirez has the knowledge to do the job. More importantly, he's still swinging a bat. It gives him an edge over one of Giambi's mentors, Mark McGwire, who waited years to return to baseball after leaving in a steroid-induced haze.
But is Ramirez willing to make it about "everybody else,' but him? It will be fascinating to watch.
This week in baseball
There are three strikes in an out and three outs in every half inning. Here are two more sets of three to think about from last week in baseball. (All stats through Friday).
Three up
1. Corey Kluber's strikeout to walk ratio is 95 to 18 in 80 innings. He's averaging 10.7 strikeouts and 2.0 walks per nine innings.
2. Clayton Kershaw's strikeout to walk rate is 47 to six in 35 1/3 innings. He's averaging 11.7 strikes and one walk per nine innings.
3. Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija, sporting a 1.68 ERA, won his first game in 17 starts Tuesday by beating the Giants.
Three down1. Billy Hamilton has been caught stealing nine times in 15 attempts. That's more than the Orioles, Yankees, Angels, A's, Marlins, Cardinals, Nationals and Braves have been caught as a team.
2. In Boston's 10-game losing streak, that ended Monday, David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia combined for one RBI
3. Tampa Bay's Juan Carlos Oviedo needed only two pitches to lose Wednesday's game 3-2 to Toronto. He gave up a leadoff single in the ninth inning to Dioner Navarro. Then he threw away Anthony Gose's bunt attempt as pinch-runner Kevin Pillar scored from first. It matched the fewest pitches ever by a Rays' pitcher in a loss.
Tribe talk
"I could barely see from me to Justin Masterson. It was raining pretty good. It was one of those balls that must have skipped right by me. I know I heard it," third baseman Mike Aviles on infield hit by Chicago's Adam Eaton that he lost in in a downpour Tuesday night.
MLB talk
"I always say that smart beats rich. But it's better to be rich and smart," Dodger President Stan Kasten to ESPN on the team's $229 million pay roll.
Stat-o-matic
1. On base machine: Shin-Soo Choo has reached base three times or more times in 16 games this season. Only three other players have done that this year – Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen and, Toronto's Jose Bautista with 17 each and Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki with 16.
2. Month by month: Oakland's Sonny Gray went 4-1 with a 2.06 ERA in five starts in April. He went 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in five starts in May. The most runs he allowed in May were four to Detroit, proving what Hall of Famer Bob Feller always said, "It's not how you pitch, it's when you pitch."
3. Walk the walk: Not saying that this could be the White Sox year, but this could be the White Sox year. They had eight walk-off wins last years, while losing 99 games. They already have six this year, two coming against the Indians.
The list:
Indians hitters rank third in the big leagues in pitches seen with 8441. Here's a player-by-player breakdown.
Player Pitches seen Average OPS.
Carlos Santana 1,010 .159 .628.
Nick Swisher 943 .211 .631.
Asdrubal Cabrera 842 .246 .705.
Michael Brantley 822 .309 .884.
Yan Gomes 778 .261 .743.
David Murphy 735 .269 .768.
Michael Bourn 630 .289 .772.
Mike Aviles 569 .266 .652.
Lonnie Chisenhall 525 .382 .946
Jason Kipnis 485 .235 .729.
Ryan Raburn 441 .218 .564.
Nyjer Morgan 187 .341 .868.
Source: MLB.com