Giambi & Ballet Don't Mix

According to today's New York Observer - thanks for the tip Preston - Jason Giambi has turned to ballet to help him overcome his recent proneness to injury.

“I’d get hurt all the time, and I just took it as part of getting older,” Giambi said as he stood near his locker before yesterday's game against Tornoto, a bat leaning against his leg. “But when I worked toward getting back from the plantar fasciitis, I worked with a new doctor, who deals with—well—ballet dancers. And he told me that I had really high arches. I got these inserts—“he gestured toward prescription orthotics in his cleats “and suddenly it didn’t hurt to run anymore.”

Giambi suffered knee and back pain so quickly, along with “dead legs” when running in the past that it was never part of his offseason regimen. But this winter, he said, he ran every day. Giambi found a track near his Las Vegas home, and learned how to run without pain for the first time, 60 yards at a time.

On Giambi's offense:

“Well, for one thing, I hope my doubles go back up,” said Giambi, who had as many as 47 doubles in his prime, but just 8 last year. “A lot of singles last year should be doubles this year. And there should be more first-to-third, more second-to-home.”

Though he’s yet to collect a hit in the season’s first three games, Giambi hit .413 this spring. Giambi believes that if his legs hold up, the hitting will take care of itself.

“I still have the batting eye, the power,” Giambi said. “I’m hoping for a big year.”

Just to point out something to The Big G, a good eye does not produce bat-speed.