Former major-league outfielder Jeremy Giambi, who briefly formed one half of a powerful duo for the Oakland Athletics with his brother Jason, died Wednesday, the A's confirmed. He was 47 years old.
We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of a member of our Green and Gold family, Jeremy Giambi. We offer our condolences to Jeanne, Jason, and his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/sBSEyRb2z4
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) February 9, 2022
Giambi died at his parents' home in Southern California, his agent, Joel Wolfe, told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. He died by suicide, according to the coroner's online case records, obtained by the Associated Press.
Originally drafted by the Kansas City Royals out of Cal State Fullerton in 1996, Giambi went on to play parts of six seasons in the majors with the Royals, Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Red Sox. He was a lifetime .263/.377/.430 hitter with 52 homers and 209 RBIs.
Giambi's best season came in 2002 when he hit 20 homers and posted a .919 OPS across 124 games with the A's and Phillies. He was also a critical piece of the 2001 A's lineup, hitting 12 homers and 26 doubles for the 102-win wild-card club.
"(I'll remember him) as a fun guy, a good guy, and an underrated player, particularly an underrated hitter," Athletics president Billy Beane told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. "He was quite frankly an important piece of probably the best team we've had since I've been here, that 2001 team."
