Jason Giambi discusses how his life changed as he got older:

Giambi admits it wasn’t easy morphing from star slugger to elder statesman.

“It beat my ego up, trust me,” he said. “Because then I started to go: ‘Am I done? Is it over?’ ”

He took a hard look at his skills, decided he still had something to give and kept on playing, albeit with a more honest approach.

“I came to realize that I should have spoken up and said I needed more time off. I didn’t do that with the A’s the second time around,” he said. “I’ve learned that you have to take responsibility for yourself in this game and lead yourself through it.”

Gone now are the double cheeseburgers and late-night adventures on the town.

“My diet was terrible when I came in as a young kid,” he said. “Like everybody else, I could eat McDonald’s three or four times a day, and it didn’t matter. And now I sleep. Before, I’d stay out all night.”

The players on the Rockies seem to love having him around, and it makes me wonder if Jason has a career ahead of him as a hitting coach.