Carissa
11-30-01, 01:48 PM
Oakland's 'other' Jason
Prospect Hart has the look, promise of a young Giambi
By Mychael Urban
MLB.com
His name is Jason, and although he plays a pretty good first base, he's much better known as a power hitter. He sports a brownish goatee and a Paul Bunyan build, and Oakland is the only organization he's ever known. He might or might not be a big part of the A's promising future; the coming days will tell.
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"It was a thrill just to talk to him, and it was even more of a thrill to watch him go about his business up close like that."
--Jason Hart on Jason Giambi
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sound familiar? Of course it does. Everyone knows Jason Giambi.
Only this isn't Jason Giambi. It's Jason Hart, and you're excused for the confusion. You're certainly not alone.
"It's kind of funny sometimes," says Hart, a 24-year-old farmhand. "One time in Spring Training last year, I was about five minutes or so into a conversation with a fan when he said something that made me realize he thought I was Giambi. I had to say, 'Sir, I'm Jason Hart, not Jason Giambi.'
"I got a lot of stuff like that. People were giving me Giambi cards to sign and everything. I kinda felt bad when I had to tell them I'm just Jason Hart."
But being "just" Jason Hart isn't so bad. He hit .326 with 30 homers and 121 RBIs at Double-A Midland in 2000, earning Topps' Minor League Player of the Year award. His numbers dropped off in 2001 at Triple-A Sacramento (.247-19-75), but he remains one of Oakland's top prospects and likely will get a very long look next spring.
http://www.mlb.com/oak/photo/ph_news_hart200_20011128.jpg
Jason Hart was named the Topps Minor League Player of the Year after his huge 2000 season at Double-A Midland.
That look will be even longer if Giambi isn't part of the mix; Oakland's free-agent slugger is expected to decide on a long-term professional residence very soon. But even though Giambi's departure could put Hart on a faster track to the big leagues, he's hoping it doesn't come to that.
"I've been an A's fan my whole life," says Hart, a Bay Area native who moved to Missouri at age 16, "and as an A's fan, I know Jason Giambi is everything to that team and the organization. So from that standpoint, I really want him to stay because that's what's best for the team.
"If he goes somewhere else, yeah, that might speed things up for me. But I'd rather there was a way we could both play there."
To that end, Hart says he'd be more than happy to learn a new position if Giambi stays. His frame -- 6-foot-4, 250 pounds -- screams first baseman, but he recently returned from a six-week stint in Arizona with a personal trainer who bulked Hart up while increasing his speed and flexibility.
"He mainly works with football players," Hart says of the trainer, "but the main thing is he makes athletes better athletes, and I know it's helped me. I gained 12 pounds out there -- it was a good 12 pounds, not a fat 12 pounds -- and I definitely feel a little faster, so who knows? I'll do anything to stay with this organization, because playing in Oakland would be a dream come true. If they want me to play somewhere else, DH, whatever, I'll do it. Anything to stay with the A's. I'll get there any way I can."
The A's seem as high on Hart as he is on them.
"I think he'll be ready for the big-league level real soon," A's Manager Art Howe said during Spring Training. "He can hit the ball to all fields, he's patient he's a professional hitter. He's got a great future."
Giambi also is on record as predicting greatness for Hart, but he's said that Hart recalls more of a young Mark McGwire than a young Jason Giambi. Fair enough given that Giambi is the only lefty among the trio, and hey, neither comparison is all that shabby as far as Hart is concerned.
"I've heard [Giambi] said I remind him a little of McGwire, and the comparisons to Giambi have been there for a while," Hart says. "It's flattering, definitely, but jeez I've got a long way to go before I can come close to living up to that kind of stuff."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I think he'll be ready for the big-league level real soon. He can hit the ball to all fields, he's patient; he's a professional hitter."
--A's Manager Art Howe on Jason Hart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last spring Hart got a good look at exactly how far he needs to go when he and Giambi struck up a bit of a friendship in the desert.
Signed with Oakland as a fifth-round pick in 1998, Hart improved his numbers each year while moving up the organizational ladder -- until this season. He attributes the statistical downfall in 2001 to self-imposed pressure that increased with a poor start.
"I totally put pressure on myself," he says. "I started out the 2000 season hitting .400 in my first 100 at-bats, and everything just clicked the whole year. In 2001, I got off to a bad start and didn't handle it very well. I had never really had to dig out of a hole before, and I pretty much had to do it the whole year."
Hart, whose average was in the .220 range at the All-Star break, credits Sacramento teammate F.P. Santangelo with helping him get through the hard times. Santangelo eventually was called up to Oakland and played a key reserve role in the A's run to the American League Wild Card berth.
"F.P. was great," Hart says. "He's a veteran big-leaguer who has seen a lot more than I have, so I listened to everything he said. He helped me focus on the next at-bat, the next day -- not anything that I had done in the past. I hated to see him go as a teammate, but as a friend I was thrilled for him when he went up to Oakland."
Hart says he played through an injury to his throwing hand much of last season, and that's why he cancelled his plans to play winter ball in Mexico. It's also why he's looking forward to Spring Training 2002 like no other spring.
"I hate not playing; I couldn't even watch a whole Fall League game when I was out in Arizona," he says. "But the only way to heal my hand is to rest it, and that will give me the time I need to condition the rest of my body and make sure I'm in the best shape of my life when I go back to Arizona. I can't wait."
IN THE MINORS
Jason Giambi
Year Team AVE. G AB H R HR RBI SLG OBP
1992 So. Oregon (A) .317 13 41 13 9 3 13 .610 .440
1993 Modesto (A) .291 89 313 91 72 12 60 .470 .436
1994 Hunstville (AA) .223 56 193 43 31 6 30 .363 .319
Tacoma (AAA) .318 52 176 56 28 4 38 .500 .388
1995 Edmonton (AAA) .342 55 190 65 34 3 41 .537 .431
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Jason Hart
Year Team AVE. G AB H R HR RBI SLG OBP
1998 So. Oregon (A) .258 75 295 76 58 20 69 .532 .336
1999 Modesto (A) .305 135 550 168 96 19 123 .504 .370
2000 Midland (AA) .326 135 546 178 98 30 121 .582 .401
Sacramento (AAA) .278 5 18 5 4 1 4 .500 .381
2001 Sacramento (AAA) .247 134 494 122 71 19 75 .419 .325
Prospect Hart has the look, promise of a young Giambi
By Mychael Urban
MLB.com
His name is Jason, and although he plays a pretty good first base, he's much better known as a power hitter. He sports a brownish goatee and a Paul Bunyan build, and Oakland is the only organization he's ever known. He might or might not be a big part of the A's promising future; the coming days will tell.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It was a thrill just to talk to him, and it was even more of a thrill to watch him go about his business up close like that."
--Jason Hart on Jason Giambi
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sound familiar? Of course it does. Everyone knows Jason Giambi.
Only this isn't Jason Giambi. It's Jason Hart, and you're excused for the confusion. You're certainly not alone.
"It's kind of funny sometimes," says Hart, a 24-year-old farmhand. "One time in Spring Training last year, I was about five minutes or so into a conversation with a fan when he said something that made me realize he thought I was Giambi. I had to say, 'Sir, I'm Jason Hart, not Jason Giambi.'
"I got a lot of stuff like that. People were giving me Giambi cards to sign and everything. I kinda felt bad when I had to tell them I'm just Jason Hart."
But being "just" Jason Hart isn't so bad. He hit .326 with 30 homers and 121 RBIs at Double-A Midland in 2000, earning Topps' Minor League Player of the Year award. His numbers dropped off in 2001 at Triple-A Sacramento (.247-19-75), but he remains one of Oakland's top prospects and likely will get a very long look next spring.
http://www.mlb.com/oak/photo/ph_news_hart200_20011128.jpg
Jason Hart was named the Topps Minor League Player of the Year after his huge 2000 season at Double-A Midland.
That look will be even longer if Giambi isn't part of the mix; Oakland's free-agent slugger is expected to decide on a long-term professional residence very soon. But even though Giambi's departure could put Hart on a faster track to the big leagues, he's hoping it doesn't come to that.
"I've been an A's fan my whole life," says Hart, a Bay Area native who moved to Missouri at age 16, "and as an A's fan, I know Jason Giambi is everything to that team and the organization. So from that standpoint, I really want him to stay because that's what's best for the team.
"If he goes somewhere else, yeah, that might speed things up for me. But I'd rather there was a way we could both play there."
To that end, Hart says he'd be more than happy to learn a new position if Giambi stays. His frame -- 6-foot-4, 250 pounds -- screams first baseman, but he recently returned from a six-week stint in Arizona with a personal trainer who bulked Hart up while increasing his speed and flexibility.
"He mainly works with football players," Hart says of the trainer, "but the main thing is he makes athletes better athletes, and I know it's helped me. I gained 12 pounds out there -- it was a good 12 pounds, not a fat 12 pounds -- and I definitely feel a little faster, so who knows? I'll do anything to stay with this organization, because playing in Oakland would be a dream come true. If they want me to play somewhere else, DH, whatever, I'll do it. Anything to stay with the A's. I'll get there any way I can."
The A's seem as high on Hart as he is on them.
"I think he'll be ready for the big-league level real soon," A's Manager Art Howe said during Spring Training. "He can hit the ball to all fields, he's patient he's a professional hitter. He's got a great future."
Giambi also is on record as predicting greatness for Hart, but he's said that Hart recalls more of a young Mark McGwire than a young Jason Giambi. Fair enough given that Giambi is the only lefty among the trio, and hey, neither comparison is all that shabby as far as Hart is concerned.
"I've heard [Giambi] said I remind him a little of McGwire, and the comparisons to Giambi have been there for a while," Hart says. "It's flattering, definitely, but jeez I've got a long way to go before I can come close to living up to that kind of stuff."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I think he'll be ready for the big-league level real soon. He can hit the ball to all fields, he's patient; he's a professional hitter."
--A's Manager Art Howe on Jason Hart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last spring Hart got a good look at exactly how far he needs to go when he and Giambi struck up a bit of a friendship in the desert.
Signed with Oakland as a fifth-round pick in 1998, Hart improved his numbers each year while moving up the organizational ladder -- until this season. He attributes the statistical downfall in 2001 to self-imposed pressure that increased with a poor start.
"I totally put pressure on myself," he says. "I started out the 2000 season hitting .400 in my first 100 at-bats, and everything just clicked the whole year. In 2001, I got off to a bad start and didn't handle it very well. I had never really had to dig out of a hole before, and I pretty much had to do it the whole year."
Hart, whose average was in the .220 range at the All-Star break, credits Sacramento teammate F.P. Santangelo with helping him get through the hard times. Santangelo eventually was called up to Oakland and played a key reserve role in the A's run to the American League Wild Card berth.
"F.P. was great," Hart says. "He's a veteran big-leaguer who has seen a lot more than I have, so I listened to everything he said. He helped me focus on the next at-bat, the next day -- not anything that I had done in the past. I hated to see him go as a teammate, but as a friend I was thrilled for him when he went up to Oakland."
Hart says he played through an injury to his throwing hand much of last season, and that's why he cancelled his plans to play winter ball in Mexico. It's also why he's looking forward to Spring Training 2002 like no other spring.
"I hate not playing; I couldn't even watch a whole Fall League game when I was out in Arizona," he says. "But the only way to heal my hand is to rest it, and that will give me the time I need to condition the rest of my body and make sure I'm in the best shape of my life when I go back to Arizona. I can't wait."
IN THE MINORS
Jason Giambi
Year Team AVE. G AB H R HR RBI SLG OBP
1992 So. Oregon (A) .317 13 41 13 9 3 13 .610 .440
1993 Modesto (A) .291 89 313 91 72 12 60 .470 .436
1994 Hunstville (AA) .223 56 193 43 31 6 30 .363 .319
Tacoma (AAA) .318 52 176 56 28 4 38 .500 .388
1995 Edmonton (AAA) .342 55 190 65 34 3 41 .537 .431
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jason Hart
Year Team AVE. G AB H R HR RBI SLG OBP
1998 So. Oregon (A) .258 75 295 76 58 20 69 .532 .336
1999 Modesto (A) .305 135 550 168 96 19 123 .504 .370
2000 Midland (AA) .326 135 546 178 98 30 121 .582 .401
Sacramento (AAA) .278 5 18 5 4 1 4 .500 .381
2001 Sacramento (AAA) .247 134 494 122 71 19 75 .419 .325