01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, September 28, 2003

The New York Yankees had Joe DiMaggio, one of the all-time great center fielders. The Boston Red Sox had his brother, Dom, a very good player in his own right, but not quite up to Joe's standards.

This season, the Sox brought in Jeremy Giambi, acquired in an offseason trade with Philadelphia for pitcher Josh Hancock. Boston was the fourth Major League stop for Jeremy, his third in two years, but the Sox' brass coveted his impressive on-base percentage of .435 while playing for Oakland and the Phillies in 2002.

The Yankees, meanwhile, had his brother, Jason, a former American League Most Valuable Player.

And once again, the Red Sox got the short end of the brother stick. Though Jason's season wasn't one of his best, he still bashed close to 40 homers and knocked in over 100 runs this year.

Jeremy, it turned out, never had a chance to become the on-base machine envisioned by general manager Theo Epstein. He never got the 500 at-bats that had been penciled in for him as either a first baseman, outfielder or designated hitter.

Jeremy Giambi hurt his left shoulder during spring training. He didn't talk about it, trying to play through it. But he wasn't able to produce and eventually, after two stints on the disabled list, it was determined that Giambi had a torn labrum in his left shoulder that required surgery. The procedure was performed in late August.

His batting average crept over the .200 mark on only eight days all season before he just couldn't try to play anymore. His last game was on Aug. 1. He finished the year batting .197 with 5 homers and 15 RBI. He did have one big night. He went 4-for 4 with two homers and two RBI in Minnesota on May 11.

Overall, though, it was a wasted year for Jeremy Giambi.

-- STEVEN KRASNER