Giambi gets support from Yankees fans
Jason Giambi wasted no time beginning his rehabilitation with the New York Yankees’ fans after a season wrecked by injury and an off-season filled with steroid allegations.
A little more than 2 hours after arriving at spring training in Tampa, Fla., Monday, he walked to the outfield end of the New York dugout, stepped onto the field and was greeted with cheers and outstretched pens.
“It’s pretty humbling, pretty incredible, to have the support from the fans,” Giambi said. “It’s pretty awesome.”
When he returned to the clubhouse, Giambi went down a row of pitchers’ lockers and shook hands with Randy Johnson. Giambi decided not to give a group apology.
“What I’ve started doing is going up to the guys face to face,” he said. “To me, that meant more than doing a team meeting or addressing the team.”
Bonds’ arrival will be crazy
Few spring training arrivals compare to the day Barry Bonds shows up at Scottsdale Stadium.
It’s when the San Francisco Giants superstar holds his annual state-of- Barry address – and more often than not, it’s the most he says to reporters all season.
When he arrives today, it’s sure to be quite an event. More than 100 media members are likely to attend, and they’ll be looking for answers from the slugger that aren’t sealed.
Bonds will be peppered with questions about the steroid controversy that constantly surrounds him.
Will it affect the legacy he leaves?
Will his records be tainted?
Does he care at all what fans think of him?
He might not answer any of them, or could choose to be candid.
This will be the first time the 40-year-old Bonds has spoken publicly since his grand jury testimony was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle and reported in December.
Jail changed Ponson
An 11-day jail stay in his native land of Aruba taught Sidney Ponson a valuable lesson, one that will forever alter the way he handles his celebrity status.
Being a high-paid major league pitcher has its perks. Ponson owns a lavish house in south Florida and parks his new black Mercedes in a prime spot at the Baltimore Orioles’ spring training camp.
But popularity has its price. In the wake of a Christmas Day brawl in which he landed in jail after allegedly punching a judge, Ponson says he’s no longer at ease in public.
“I approach things differently now,” he said. “I definitely see this as a life-changing experience. … I’m looking over my shoulder because you never know what can happen.”