Joba The Showboat
Posted by Steve L. on April 7th, 2010 · Comments (36)
Joba Chamberlain of the New York Yankees reacts after getting out of trouble in the 8th inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on April 6, 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
Somebody needs to tell Joba Chamberlain that getting two outs during the 8th inning of the second game of the regular season is not the same as striking out Ryan Howard with the bases loaded in Game 7 of the World Series with the game on the line.
You’d think…after being able to watch Mo Rivera go about his business with professionalism and class over the last three years…this kid would have learned something by now?
You’d think…after being able to watch Mo Rivera go about his business with professionalism and class over the last three years…this kid would have learned something by now?
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What does class have to do with it?
I don’t care if Joba fist pumps, does a backflip or just walks off the mound at a normal speed. This kid has been jerked back and form between roles for 3 years and it’s time for him to just do whatever will make him comfortable and pitch his best. If that means he gets excited and pumps his fist after some big outs, fine with me. Let’s not forget it was the 8th inning at Fenway in a one run game, with the tying runner in scoring position a night after he threw a clunker.
@ YankCrank:
Hey, maybe it’s just me being old school. But, I prefer my RP not to be ass clowns like Papelbon and K-Rod.
It’s baseball. It’s not the NBA slam dunk contest.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
That’s really what it is. It’s ok to be old school and not want that, I understand.
But let’s not act like the Yankees need to be “above” everybody and act emotionless. If Joba gets excited, and part of him being successful is to let emotion show and not bottle it up, than as Yankee fans we should want the kid to do whatever he needs to do to succeed.
I’m indifferent one way or the other, but if it works for him, fine…
Isn’t the fact that he was able to find his mid-90s fastball and nasty slider last night more the story here? One game of course, but his post game quotes seem to suggest that the intensity might have been a factor. If that’s the case, I say he should headbutt people on the way in from the bullpen. Whatever works.
bfriley76 wrote:
Exactly. The guy is sloppy in the rotation, so people complain he’s not the same animal as the aggressive, emotional reliver that was so good and throwing so hard in ’07.
Then he does exactly that last night, and he shows too much emotion with a fist pump.
My God people, make up your mind with what you want out of this kid.
@ YankCrank:
I don’t actuallly believe that displays of emotion help fulfill any “needs” in order for him “to succeed.”
I’m more with Steve on this one. I’ve always found it ridiculous the way K-Rod, Papelbon, Jose Lima, Valverde, etc. go bananas on the mound after closing out a game. You got the final three outs of a game, that’s lovely. How come Halladay, Sabathia and Santana don’t go bananas when they complete a game and get 27 outs? Why would a reliever be more insane for having recorded 3 outs than a starter that gets 18 or more?
If Joba wants to do that, I guess that’s his call. But it also helps if he’s good at what he does. He might want to temper the public displays of madness if he pitches as poorly in 2010 as he did in 2009. Worse than a braggart is someone that has no reason to brag but does anyway.
YankCrank wrote:
That doesn’t justify fist-pumping, even if you believe he should be fist-pumping until the cows come home. The Yanks blew it (in my opinion) with how they handled Joba but that shouldn’t give Joba the right to be a wanker, it only gives him the right to tell Cashman to eff himself when arbitration/free agency comes around.
MJ Recanati wrote:
I’ve seen Sabathia go bananas after he completes 27 outs, most notably his fist pumping, leg stomping and screaming reaction to the complete game in Baltimore last year.
Like bfriley said, let’s let his results be the story. He pitched well, in a big spot, and we should be happy. If we’re going crazy over fist pumps, we’re looking at the wrong details here.
If being emotional allows him to crank up that FB and throw those nasty sliders than I’m all for it as well. He needs to own this role of his in the bullpen and approach it like the beast we saw in 2007.
YankCrank wrote:
I agree, it’s not worth spending too much time worrying about. But since Steve brought it up, it bears mentioning that we (Steve and I) find it ridiculous, not just on Joba’s part but on the part of all relievers that make themselves look like idiots for basically doing their jobs.
But since Steve brought it up, it bears mentioning that we (Steve and I) find it ridiculous.
You’re face is ridiculous
Seriously though..I F-ing love this kid. Every team needs a different class of characters. Mo can be the classy guy. Jeter the ambassador. Arod the love/hate him superstar. Andy the cool veteran. Joba the man beast. I mean, I nearly wet myself when he struck out those two wankers. Keep doing what you do #62..Clint has your back!
two separate points:
1. for whatever reason, people have honed in on joba. about 100 pitchers fist pump. CC fist pumps all the time. i don’t know why but people don’t mind CC doing it. maybe because they like him. maybe because he’s one of the best in the game and has “earned” it. maybe it’s because he doesn’t do it as often. i don’t know, and it certainly doesn’t bother me either. but it also doesn’t bother me with joba.
2. it would be great if every athlete could succeed as effortlessly as rivera does. if you’ve been around sports you know that isn’t the case. some guys need to be more jacked up. others get too jittery when jacked up, and need to be emotionless. and on and on and on in a million different permutations. if this in even some small way helps joba do his job, who cares? would you rather him not get jacked up and pitch mediocre, or get jacked up and fist pump no matter when it is and get outs like it’s 2007 all over again? i’m not saying it definitely is the reason for him pitching or not pitching well, but again even if it helps an iota he should do it. he’s not hurting anyone, so he should try to do what he has to do to win baseball games. and people should get over it.
If the situation calls for it, I say yes to fist pumps. Close game in Fenway with tying run in scoring position? Absolutely.
8th inning strikeout with no one on base in mid-June against the Royals? Not so much.
Pete wrote:
Extremely fair and sensible.
I love it, I think the reason he was doing so poorly is because they sapped the animal out of him and made him a robot.
Corey Italiano wrote:
Part of the reason****
MJ Recanati wrote:
I think it jacks him up and allows him to throw harder.
@ clintfsu813:
What did I tell ya was going to happen before game 1
not to go on, but i just don’t get the infatuation with joba, and comparing him to people who don’t show as much emotion. everyone is different. halladay and sabathia are two of the best pitchers in the game, and sabathia shows emotion and doc doesn’t. i love when CC fist pumps when he gets out of a big spot or finishes off a dominant inning/outing. i would also love doc for going about his business with a stone face. it’s these two players being themselves.
dustin pedroia has fist pumped about 6 times in this series. he fist pumps just about every time he gets a hit or makes a play on D. he probably fist pumps when he ties his shoes correctly. how come we don’t talk about that? that’s why i don’t get the focus on joba.
Pat F wrote:
Hahaha, a fair and hilarious point.
One thing not to lose sight of in this whole thing – the other team’s reaction.
Players notice this reaction. Huff got on Joba in the past. Bruney got on K-Rod. IIRC, a few years back, the A’s got on Derek Lowe when he was closing.
If Joba does this consistently, at some point, someone’s going to flip and then it will escalate.
Joba’s already shown that he’s not shy about starting trouble. See how he pitches to the Greek God of Light Bulb Heads.
Mark my words – IF JOBA DOES THIS ALL YEAR – some hitter is going to get in his grill about it, and then Joba will buzz the batter, or some batter, as payback, and then either a fight will start or some Yankees batter (probably A-Rod or Jeter) is going to get drilled in return.
It’s going to happen…just a matter of time…if Joba keeps pulling this stunt.
@ Pat F:
It’s not just about the fist pump. Jeter fist pumps all the time after a big play or a win.
With Joba, it’s more than a fist pump. It’s the little dance move off the hill towards the first base line combined with the facial reaction that’s a mix between Shawn Kemp’s dunk face and how the Comic Book Guy would respond to finding out that his mother threw out all his “action figures.”
It’s the step away, the orgasmic temper tantrum AND a fist pump.
Does CC sometimes do something like this? Yeah, sorta – at times. But, I’ve also seen CC do it with face somewhat hidden by his glove – as to TRY and not show up the other team while also allowing his emotions to come out. Plus, CC doesn’t do it EVERY time he ends an inning.
Joba is just flatout showboating – like Lima, Papelbon, K-Rod and all the others who push it too far.
@ Steve Lombardi:
It’s certainly possible and I was always surprised that Youk that never charged the mound on Joba. Instead he charged the mound on Rick Porcello and was promptly body slammed.
Yes it’s childish of Joba to demonstrate such a need to show off, but I was almost relieved enough to give a fist-pump myself when he showed signs of life as a pitcher. Maybe he surprised himself! B of the D this time.
But Steve is right about the fact that overdoing it will lead to problems for which others will generally pay the price. As a matter of fact, animosities Joba’s involved with affected the game last night. There was no need for the drama of Robertson and Marte except that Girardi didn’t want Joba going in to face Youkilis with the bad blood that already exists there.
@ Steve Lombardi:
i think that is both fair and accurate. i want to point out i have no problem with anything that CC has ever done in this regard, and he definitely doesn’t take it to the extent joba does. but this sort of ties back to my original point, that every athlete is different. i don’t agree with you that joba is showboating. maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. it is possible he needs to get to that level to perform. i think the “fire breather” stuff gets taken too far, but if you looked at joba after he got beltre, it looked like he wanted to explode. i think he’s that amped up when he pitches. you never see him go nuts mid inning, so maybe he just lets all that amped-up-ness out when the innings over? i don’t know the answer. what i do know is that if he needs to do this to pitch like he did in ’07 or last night, then by all means, even if he is showboating.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
So? They got on Eckersley about it too. If hitters don’t like it, I suggest they try a little harder next ab.
cr1 wrote:
I don’t think that was the case, Girardi loves him some matchups. Playing bullpen roulette as he does is pretty much his MO as a manager.
True, Raf, Girardi loves to play in the matchup sandbox. It was a comment of his in his post-game interview last night that gave me the impression he preferred to avoid bringing Joba in to face Youkilis, but maybe he was just rationalizing.
Not this again. There are so many pitchers with antics worse than Joba’s, including the Met closer, no one but the media seems to care.
This is nothing new. Who was it, that used to throw the rosen bag, stomp around and look totally ridiculous before throwing each pitch..The Mad Hungarian.
Batters get hit for all kinds of things. Cano should get hit tonight for standing a watching his HR last night.
I think Joba has shown that this isn’t showboating, or trying to upstage the batter, he is just showing his emotions. He has always done it, as a starter, as a reliever, and he did it in the minors.
Uh oh, Pettitte with a fist pump! After a big out in April!
Andy The Showboat.
Does anyone remember that total BS hype job Kay and YES did when Joba pitched against the Red Sox last year….AND lost? Kay was so full of shit his eyes were brown!
Anyway, Joba the Hut and Assmouth Papelbone are too much on the mound for my taste. I can’t stand all these new school histrionics myself. The fist pump,unh? It’s annoying quite frankly. Not as annoying as seeing Pape’s mouth become an anal orifice during the ninth inning BUT annoying just the same.
All I know is..I’m loving me some Beckett and Papeldong right now
butchie22 wrote:
You mean after he let up a bunch of runs he struck out like 8? Pepridge Farm remembers…
I love how he gets pumped up. If it makes him a better pitcher which it obviously does he needs to keep doing it
the difference between joba’s fist pumping and Krod and papelbitches fist pumping is that joba really only does it big spots (i.e. btm 8 vs red sox with men in scoring position) papelbitch does it after ever save no matter if its the yankees or the nationals. and krod fals to his knees like hes in the middle of a the field thinking hes god or something. if anyone really paid attention to the game AJ did it earlier in the game when he had bases loaded and got out of it. andy did last night after hes struc out ortiz in the 5th with men on 1st and 2nd. i love joba’s emotion makes him pitcher he is.