(I've been following the Braves since 1991. Every so often, on a Wednesday, I want to look at a random player from the era I watched the team. Today's player, chosen by a random generator, is...)
Weirdly, a week after focusing on Joe Ayrault, the random number generator spit out the same 1996 roster, but this time we look at a backup infielder with a few more games in the majors than Ayrault's seven.
Born in Los Gatos, just southwest of San Jose, California, Giovanola graduated from Bellarmine College Prep, a school that has produced such names as Pat Burrell, Mark Canha, and Mitch White. Undrafted, Giovanola took his talents to Santa Clara University, following former Bellarmine teammate, Greg Gohr, who was a couple of years ahead of Giovanola. As a freshman, Giovanola helped the Broncos reach the NCAA tournament and he was a first-team All-American at second the following year. Later, in 1992, he would complete his education with a degree in economics.
But prior to that accomplishment, he was the seventh-round selection of the 1990 draft by the Braves. As I talked about with Ayrault last week, the 1990 draft did produce Chipper Jones and Tony Graffanino, but also a handful of guys with less noteworthy careers in the majors such as Ayrault, Brian Kowitz, and Brian Bark. You could add Giovanola, but he did play in over 200 games in the majors so it's not as if he only got a cup of coffee.
Heading to the minors, Giovanola spent the rest of the 1990 summer playing in a pair of places you might not know the Braves even had teams in - Idaho Falls and Sumter, South Carolina. He hit .309 along the way with an absurd walk-to-strikeout rate of nearly 2-to-1. When you walk 51 times in 60 games, you're going to open some eyes even if you get caught trying to swipe a base eight times in 22 tries.
Giovanola landed in Durham next and still displayed a solid ability to walk, though his OPS fell nearly 80 points to .719. It would fall another 30 points in 1992 as he struggled through a tough 75-game campaign with Greenville. Returning to that version of the G-Braves, Giovanola rebounded in '93, slashing .281/.408/.401 over 120 games. Sure, he was limited when it came to power, but he was gifted at getting on base and a solid defender at second and third.
However, in 1994, he changed up his game a little. The walks fell from 84 in 480 PA the previous year to 41 in the exact same amount of PA the following season. On the bright side, he reached double figures in homers for the first - and only - time in his career. Also exciting was that he spent most of the season in Richmond, his first taste of Triple-A. He'd be a regular in Virginia's capital city for the next few years.
In 1995, Giovanola dropped his power numbers for a return to more walks than strikeouts. He also hit a stout .321. His solid run led to a promotion to the majors and a debut on September 10 in Miami. While the division was still technically not clinched, the Braves had built a massive lead and wanted to start to give their guys some time off. The first five hitters in the order (Marquis Grissom, Mark Lemke, Chipper, Fred McGriff, and David Justice) would all be lifted after an inning of work. As would Greg Maddux, who pitched one inning and gave way to Jason Schmidt. Giovanola replaced Chipper at third to open the bottom of the second but had already been on deck to hit for the future Hall-of-Famer in the top half. In his first at-bat, Giovanola unsurprisingly worked a walk against David Weathers. He later scored on a Mike Devereaux single. Giovanola walked again in the fourth but was unable to reach base his next three at-bats prior to the Marlins winning on a walk-off base hit in the 11th.
In addition to the Braves having a big division lead, they were concerned with load management in the strike-shortened season. That gave Giovanola a lot of opportunities to play. On September 18, he picked up his first major league hit, a single off Robert Person. Unfortunately, it would be his only hit in 13 games covering 17 PA. He walked three times. Giovanola wouldn't be on the roster for the postseason. He did come close as Jeff Blauser suffered a deep thigh bruise in the NLCS and was questionable for the World Series. If Bobby Cox opted to replace Blauser, Giovanola would have gotten the call. But Blauser was on the World Series roster, even though he ultimately didn't get into a game.
The following season, he received his biggest exposure as a member of the Braves. In addition to hitting .265/.403/.419 in 62 games with Richmond, Giovanola played in 43 games with the big league club. He made the team out of spring training after a nagging injury kept Chipper Jones on the IL to open the year. He'd return a few weeks later after Blauser hit the IL. On April 18, he doubled for his first extra-base hit and drove in his first run. He'd remain with the Braves into May before being demoted.
Giovanola would return in late June for much of the rest of the season. When Blauser hit the IL again in mid-July, it opened up some increased playing time for Giovanola. At first, Rafael Belliard got the lion's share of starts, but with his typical issues with the bat, Giovanola got a look starting 13 games between July 24 and August 14. However, he couldn't capitalize on the opportunity, hitting just .208 in 54 trips to the plate with 10 singles. The Braves sent Giovanola back to the minors and tried Chipper Jones at shortstop instead. Weirdly, even after Blauser returned to open September, Jones kept playing shortstop as the Braves tried to make Terry Pendleton Round 2 work. It didn't.
Giovanola returned for six September games, leaving him with a .232/.304/.256 slash for the season. He played in 43 games and picked up 94 plate appearances.
In 1997, Giovanola continued to perform well in front of International League crowds, slashing .291/.385/.390. Unfortunately, he'd only get a brief cameo in Atlanta, playing in 14 games and going 2-for-8 at the plate with a pair of walks. Again, he wouldn't get a chance to get into a postseason game. In early October, the Braves waived Giovanola and the Padres picked him up.
He'd get his most significant exposure yet in 1998, playing in 92 games for San Diego with 166 PA. One of his personal highlights came in an interleague game against the visiting Angels on June 27. Facing Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Giovanola ripped a 1-1 pitch to deep right field for a homer. The score was already 4-1 and Giovanola's homer only meant they would win by 5-1. But personally, it was his first homer in the majors. It would also be his only dinger.
While Giovanola hit just .230, he did have his most Giovanolaish campaign as he matched his 22 strikeouts with 22 walks. Even though the Padres made the playoffs, Giovanola again would not play in October. He'd play less in 1999, getting into 56 games and only hitting .190. Another highlight did occur on August 25 against Philadelphia. With the Phils spanking the hapless Padres 15-1, Giovanola took the ball with two outs in the seventh inning. He gave up a single but retired the next batter to get out of the inning. He kept pitching in the 8th, working around two walks for a scoreless frame.
That game would be the final game of his major league career. He was cut after the season and would soon head into retirement.
Unlike last week's profile player, Joe Ayrault, Giovanola would not go on to become a baseball lifer. He'd manage a T-Mobile store, work as a sales manager for a company called Wireless Evolution, and soon get into real estate. According to Homes.com, he's sold 13 houses over the last five years for an average price of $1.3 million.
I guess that worked out okay.
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