Jason Giambi's Return to Oakland Comes to Sad Conclusion

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Jason Giambi’s release last week likely signified the end of his career, his journey ending in the same place it started.

He never won a title, never fulfilled that final bit of promise expected of him. Just like Chris Webber, another star-crossed athlete who bitterly fled Oakland before making one final post-retirement return, Giambi never won a title, never fulfilled that last bit of promise expected of him.

And just like Webber, the Giambi that revisited Oakland was a shell of his former self. The 2009 Jason Giambi was a bad Hollywood remake, resembling the original version in name only.

Giambi’s release was embarrassing for both he and the A’s, who will save $5 million by not having to pay his salary next year. Considering all that he’s meant to this franchise, no one could have expected that Giambi would eventually represent a “Cash for Clunkers” opportunity for the A’s.

At the press conference announcing Giambi’s signing, Billy Beane joked that the signing was like reuniting with his ex-wife, but the arrangement ended up being more of a fling than a reunion.

When he returned, Giambi showed up sporting a grey goatee and a scarf-shirt. Immediately, it was apparent that this wasn’t the same person who left back in 2001. Giambi left Oakland looking like an extra from Sons of Anarchy, and returned a member of Project Runway.

The team tried to force-feed Giambi back to the fans, making him the most prominent member of their marketing efforts for the 2009 season. The A’s even hung a giant poster of Giambi above the main entrance to the Coliseum, as though he were a returning hero rather than a player whose loyalty disappeared at the drop of a checkbook.

But A's fans knew better than to vigorously embrace his return. The Oakland faithful have learned not to get too attached to individual players, knowing it’s only a matter of time before their favorite Athletics are cashing their paychecks elsewhere.

It was Giambi who taught them that lesson, betraying any optimistic fans who believed him when he said he was sticking around back in 2001.

At the time Giambi signed with New York, it was impossible to picture him as anything other than an Oakland Athletic. He’d worked hard to develop his reputation as a long-haired, beer-drinking, motorcycle-riding, stubble-growing rebel. Ever the non-conformist, Giambi was the leader of a young team who followed his every move.

That changed overnight, as Giambi instantly embraced all that he once seemed to oppose. He went corporate in an instant, and A’s fans hated him for it. Giambi became Robert the Bruce, going from hero to villain by choice, turning his back on something he had helped to create.

As one of the first big-money free agents signed by the Yankees in the Jeter Era, Giambi came to represent the excess which became New York’s calling card as they shifted away from homegrown players.

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