Yanks' Giambi Puts Hope in Thong

Slumping Yankees slugger Jason Giambi has a secret weapon: a gold thong. He wears it when he’s struggling for hits—as is the case now, with his average well below .200—and has passed it to teammates Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and Johnny Damon when they needed it, Portfolio notes. “All of them wore it and got hits," says the 37-year-old Giambi, in the last year of a lucrative guaranteed contract.

Wtih a salary of $23.4 million, the second highest in the majors, Giambi is well aware of his low numbers. "I never hear the boos because I'm too busy booing myself,” he says. And he seems to prove the point that it never pays to give players older than 30 long contracts. Next year, the Yanks could pick up his option for $22 million or give him $5 million to go elsewhere. Presumably with his thong. (More Jason Giambi stories.)