A native of Seneca Falls, New York, Giusti distinguished himself on the baseball diamond in Syracuse at the Little League, high school and collegiate level. Giusti even pitched in the Babe Ruth Little League state championship against future Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski but lost 1-0.
During the 1961 season, Giusti signed with the expansion Houston Colt 45s and would make his MLB debut with the club in the inaugural season the following year. In only the Colt 45s fourth game ever, Giusti began his big-league career as a pinch runner in a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. His mound debut came 9 days later making a start against the aforementioned Phillies taking the loss although giving up only 3 runs over 6.1 innings pitched.
However, Giusti struggled and was in the minors by July. He would spend all of 1963 and nearly all of 1964 pitching with the Colt 45s Triple AAA affiliate in Oklahoma City. Giusti's first full big-league season took place in 1965 when the Colt 45s were rechristened the Astros after moving into the Astrodome.
After spending most of the '65 season pitching out of the Astros bullpen, Giusti would become a fixture in the Astros starting rotation for the next three seasons pitching alongside the likes of Larry Dierker and Don Wilson. He would win a career high 15 games during the 1966 season followed by a pair of 11-win campaigns in 1967 and 1968. Giusti proved durable tossing more than 200 innings all three seasons with a career high 251 innings in what was the Year of the Pitcher in 1968.
Giusti would have a strange off-season, however. The Astros would trade him to the St. Louis Cardinals in a deal for catcher Johnny Edwards. But 72 hours later, the expansion San Diego Padres made Giusti the third overall pick in the NL expansion draft and second Padre after outfielder Ollie Brown. But Giusti would never throw a pitch for the Padres as they would ship him back to St. Louis that December for four players. In his only season in St. Louis, Giusti was used as a swing man going 3-7 with a respectable 3.61 in 22 appearances (12 starts, 10 relief appearances).
The Redbirds sent Giusti to the Pittsburgh Pirates after the 1969 season and this would prove to be most fortuitous. The Pirates initially planned to use Giusti as a swing man, but his palm ball proved effective in late inning situations. In 66 appearances (65 in relief), Giusti went 9-3 with a 3.06 ERA saving 26 games as the Pirates would win the NL East title. Giusti finished fourth in NL Cy Young balloting behind future Hall of Fame starters Bob Gibson, Gaylord Perry and Ferguson Jenkins and sixth in NL MVP balloting just behind Pete Rose.
In 1971, Giusti saved a career high 30 games and earned his lone World Series ring. Giusti appeared in 3 games in the Fall Classic pitching 5.1 scoreless innings earning a save in Game 4 as the Bucs bested the Baltimore Orioles in seven games.
In 1972, however, Giusti would have his worst moment on the baseball diamond when he surrendered a game tying HR to Johnny Bench in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Cincinnati Reds. After Giusti was unable to get the job done, Bob Moose was brought on but uncorked a wild pitch with Hal McRae up allowing pinch runner George Foster to score the winning run. The Pirates would win five NL East titles in six seasons but thrice failed to get past the Big Red Machine in the NLCS.
Giusti would rebound in 1973 earning his only NL All-Star Team selection and finishing 7th in NL Cy Young balloting. He would enjoy another Top 10 finish in NL Cy Young balloting in 1974. By 1976, Moose had taken over as the Bucs closer though he would sadly lose his life in a car accident on his 29th birthday following the season.
Prior to the 1977 season, after 7 seasons in a Bucs uniform, Pittsburgh traded Giusti along with future AL HR champion Tony Armas, Mitchell Page and pitchers Doc Medich, Rick Langford and Doug Bair to the Oakland A's in exchange for Phil Garner, Tommy Helms and Chris Batton. Garner would become an integral part of the "We Are Famalee" Pirates who would win the World Series in 1979.
As for the A's, by 1977, the club which had won three consecutive World Series in the early 1970s was a shell of its former self. By August, the A's had sold Giusti's contract to the Chicago Cubs where he finished his big-league career.
In 15 MLB seasons, Giusti pitched in 668 games (535 out of the bullpen) for a record of 100-93 with a 3.60 ERA along with 145 saves. Of those 145 saves, 133 came in a Pittsburgh uniform. In the early 1970s, Giusti was the best reliever in the National League. Not everyone can say they were the best at something even if only for a short while. R.I.P.
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