Early life

Like his older brother Jason, Jeremy Giambi attended South Hills High School, Sierra Vista Middle School in Covina, California, and Covina Elementary School in Covina, California. He attended California State University, Fullerton and played college baseball for the Cal State Fullerton Titans. The Kansas City Royals selected Giambi in the sixth round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft.

Professional career

Giambi started off his Major League career playing for the Royals, for whom he played for parts of two seasons. He was mentioned in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball as one of the replacement players for his older brother, Jason and became a character in the film that starred Brad Pitt. Despite his off field troubles, Jeremy was looked at by Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, because of his plate discipline. The Athletics acquired Giambi from the Royals in exchange for Brett Laxton prior to the 2000 season.

Giambi was involved in what has become known as the "flip play" during the 2001 American League Division Series between the Athletics and the New York Yankees. With Oakland leading the series two games to none and Yankees leading in Game 3 by a score of 1-0, Giambi attempted to score the tying run on a ball hit into the right field corner. With the relay throw veering into foul territory, Giambi tried to score standing up; Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter intercepted the throw and flipped it to catcher Jorge Posada, who was able to graze Giambi's calf with a sweep tag before Giambi could touch home plate. The Yankees went on to win the game 1-0 and rallied to win the series 3-2.

During the 2002 season, the Athletics traded Giambi to the Philadelphia Phillies for John Mabry. After the 2002 season, the Phillies traded Giambi to the Boston Red Sox for Josh Hancock. He last played in the majors in 2003 for the Red Sox. After being released by the Red Sox, Giambi signed minor league deals with the Dodgers in 2004 and the White Sox in 2005 but only played in a total of 20 games in two seasons.

Drugs and Steroids

On December 10, 2001, Giambi was caught with marijuana at a checkpoint at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. He was cited for misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and released.

On March 13, 2005, The Kansas City Star reported that Giambi had admitted to having used anabolic steroids. His brother Jason has also admitted to using steroids according to grand jury testimony that has been leaked to the press. On December 13, 2007, Giambi was named in the Mitchell Report on steroid usage in baseball.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]