Lester: We May Have To Do Something About Joba
Via WEEI’s Full Count Blog with a H/T to BBTF, Bosox pitcher Jon Lester on Joba Chamberlain’s buzzing Red Sox hitters -
“It’s one of those deals where I’m all for throwing in, but there comes a point somebody, whether it be baseball or the opponent, has to step in and say enough is enough,” said [Jon Lester]. “Balls have gone over guys heads and gone up too close. There’s a difference between throwing in and making a point and he definitely tries to make some points. I don’t know if he’s trying to him there or not, but he did and it looks bad because J-Bay did hit a home run off of him, along with the history with us and other players. He always come back and says the ball slipped, I wasn’t trying to hit anybody. One time you can fool us, two times you can maybe say OK, but it’s gotten old. In baseball it’s one of those deals where you can’t really think there’s a punishment necessary. It’s one of those deals where we might have to police it ourselves a little bit more, I don’t know.”
This is a sticky one for me. I’m 100% in favor of moving batters off the plate – as long as it’s done correctly…meaning coming inside from the shoulders down (and not throwing behind a guy). And, I’ll all in favor of drilling a guy when one of your guys gets drilled. And, in the eye-for-an-eye case, I’m OK with throwing behind a guy – again, as long as it’s from the shoulders down.
But, I’m against throwing at, or near, a guy’s head. Stress the “near” part there. If someone wants to throw a pitch and it’s three feet over the batter’s head, to send a message, I’m not going to get too upset over that one either.
And, I’m against drilling a guy for no other reason other than the fact that you can’t get him out or because the team he plays for is beating you up that day. That’s just weak, in my book.
So, where does Joba fall here? If he was playing for a team other than the Yankees, I might say he’s hitting guys because they’re batting well against him. And, I might say that he’s coming too close to batters’ heads. So, to be fair, I have to say the same thing about him as a Yankee, no?
No, don’t get me wrong. Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez are going to the Hall of Fame and they both did what I’m saying Chamberlain is doing here. So, it’s not like Joba’s a being a punk like no one ever before…
What do you think of Joba’s shaving the Sox and Lester’s comments?
I agree 100% that there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about being an intimidator on the mound and I agree 100% that Clemens (I adore him) and Pedro (I despise him) both went about it the wrong way on many occasions.
I agree with the spirit of Lester’s message but, with two caveats: first, he might want to talk to Josh Beckett about the same thing. Beckett’s certainly cut from the Rocket/Pedro cloth of drilling guys or buzzing them high. Second, I generally don’t think another AL pitcher should be making this point since no AL pitcher will ever face retribution in an intra-league game. If Jason Bay or Kevin Youkilis wanted to make that statement, I’d say they had a good point. But for another pitcher to say it is kind of silly. Let those who were on the receiving end of Joba’s fastballs speak for themselves. If they can’t or don’t want to…well, then STFU.
Becket throwing at Abreu’s head was out of Lester’s view, I guess. whatta an effing hypocrite he is! I wanted Ellsbury buzzed not because of the home plate steal, but because that laughing was silly in the dugout. Yet no one did anything. And I hated Clemens AND Pedro BTW. Clemens never seemed to throw at people in the NL, did he? What Clemens did to Piazza was purely stupid. I’d like to see if he wanted to be hit in the head when he was up at bat that Roid Raged mercenary.
I generally don’t think another AL pitcher should be making this point since no AL pitcher will ever face retribution in an intra-league game.
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True, but there haven’t been many cases of retribution in the NL either.
Listen, it is all about strategy. They throw inside, or even hit the guy, to make sure they stay off the plate and dont settle in. That’s what all the beanball pitchers of yore were doing, and its not going to change bc Lester opened his mouth. Quite frankly, I find it hard to believe that the Sox can whine so much about this. Over this last 10 year period of the rivalry, a lot more Yankees have been hit than Red Sox, something that often bothered a lot of Yankee fans. Suddenly the playing field is leveled and “its getting old.”
mercenary
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Free agent. Unless you’ve never changed jobs in your life and never asked for a better salary, you might want to relax a bit. We’re all “mercenaries”. There’s nothing wrong with it.
you still think clemens is HOF bound?
Great pitchers throw at people end of story,
Clemens, Johnson, Pedro, Bob Gibson, the list goes.
The next time the Yankees play the sox, Joba should throw his first pitch over the head of Ellsbury. If the Sox dont like it then he should drill the next batter(Pedroia) in the back. IF the sox are still pissed, they can throw at one of the Yankees. Its baseball, people get hit all the time.
Job if your reading this, dont give in. Keep pitching the way you do..
Great pitchers throw at people end of story,
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thats a pretty silly statement, there have been plenty of great pitchers that dont throw at people, and plenty of crappy pitchers that throw at people
MJ wrote:
Bullshit MJ! You might be one(a mercenary), so bloody well speak for yourself. Clemens didn’t want to come here ,he went to Toronto when he was up for free agency AND was offered more money from the Yanks.He was traded to the Yankees from Toronto, he wasn’t a free agent when he intially came to the Yanks. He came here for rings, he prefered to be in Canada nad refused the Yanks and then jumped on board when he smelled roses coming up.I can’t stand Clemens …….
I can’t stand Clemens …….
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That you can’t stand Clemens is one thing. But to call Clemens, or any other player, a mercenary is just ridiculous. They make the same choices we all do every single day. No one calls us “mercenaries” when we quit one job to take another for more money. Why do people get so irrational about free enterprise?
But let’s assume for a moment that everything you said about Clemens is correct. He came here for the rings. What exactly is so wrong with that? The Yanks offered him the best chance to win AND the best compensation. What idiot would turn that down?
I’m glad you’re not a mercenary like Clemens, Butchie. You’d have stayed in Canada and played on 3rd place teams for less money. Perfectly sensible.
dont feed the animals mj
one word answer: Pedro
If you steal signals, you’re gonna get someone hurt.
dont feed the animals mj
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LOL!