Who

Jason Giambi was the muscle-bound, hard-slugging, steroid-fueled first baseman/designated hitter for the New York Yankees from 2002 to 2008. He's since been traded to the Oakland A's.

Backstory

California native Giambi made his major league debut in 1995 with the Oakland Athletics, where he was mentored by slugger Mark McGwire, perhaps not the most auspicious pairing given McGwire's later steroid scandal. Giambi soon became Oakland's biggest star, winning the American League MVP award in 2000—a season in which he hit 43 homers and drove in 137 runs—and attracting legions of female fans with his long hair and rock-star image. Giambi left the team after the 2001 season, signing a 7-year, $120 million free agent contract with the Yankees. Longtime fans griped that he was selling out—particularly after he cut his hair and beard to conform with George Steinbrenner's longstanding dress code. But Yankees fans were pleased with the prospect of getting one of the game's top sluggers, and general manager Brian Cashman hoped Giambi could fill the power-hitting shoes of the declining Bernie Williams and the departed Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez.

For a couple of years, Giambi came through, slugging over 40 home runs and 100 runs batted in during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. But recent years have not been kind. In addition to the steroid scandal that tarnished his image (see below), he's battled a number of bizarre health issues, including an intestinal parasite, calcium deposits in his eyes, and a tumor on his pituitary gland. As a result, he has missed at least 20 games in each of the last four seasons, and missed more than half of 2004 and 2007.

Scandal

In 2005, former slugger Jose Canseco implicated Giambi as a steroid user in his tell-all book Juiced, writing that Giambi "went overboard with steroids," became "the most outright juicer in the game," and "had the most obvious steroid physique that I've ever seen in my life." (No small feat, given that Giambi was playing in the same league as Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire.)

After the book's publication, Giambi admitted using steroids and human growth hormone to a grand jury. When the news leaked in early 2005, Giambi called a press conference and publicly apologized—but never mentioned the word "steroids." (He also apologized for the vagueness of his apology, saying "I'm sorry I can't be more candid.") In May 2007, he found himself in the hot seat again as rumors swirled that he had recently tested positive for amphetamines. But in August 2007, MLB commissioner Bud Selig announced that because Giambi had cooperated with baseball's steroids investigation—the so-called Mitchell Report—and admitted to using steroids under the threat of suspension from the game, the slugger would face no further discipline from the league.

Personal

Giambi divorced his first wife Dana in 1999. During the divorce proceedings—during which they battled for custody over their dog, Slugger—Giambi temporarily moved back in with his parents. He remarried in 2005, tying the knot with Kristian Rice, a graphic designer he met at a restaurant when her grandmother was celebrating her 90th birthday. The couple lives in the Empire on East 78th Street: He paid $3.3 million for the 3,000-square-foot apartment in 2002. Giambi also owns homes in the Bay Area and in Henderson, Nevada.

Off hours

While pounding Jager shots with a roid-addled Jason Giambi might not sound like fun to you, evidently it does to some people: He's known for legendary parties at his Upper East Side apartment. During his time in Oakland, Giambi's slogan (worn on a t-shirt under his uniform) was "Party like a rock star, hammer like a porn star, hit like an All-Star."

True story

Giambi's high school team featured not only his brother Jeremy—perhaps most famous as the player tagged out on Derek Jeter's famous "flip" play in 2001—but also the late Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, killed in a 2006 plane crash in Manhattan.