Still More Ado About Nothing

Well, here we go again! The Lords of Discipline in all their wisdom are once again attacking my favorite pitcher, Joba Chamberlain, for pumping his fist and yelling . It doesn't seem to matter to them that Joba is young and naturally exuberant, that he just struck out the guy who had nailed his first pitch fastball for a 3-run homer on Tuesday, or that he had had to listen to a potpourri of self-important analysts giving their two cents on whether he'd be able to handle it emotionally.

<>Maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised, in a society that doesn’t seem too upset that we’re torturing prisoners without a trial. Some people just like discipline. These are the same folks who get upset when one of their co-workers gets away with coming in ten minutes late. It doesn’t matter that their car broke down, or that their kid’s babysitter called in sick. And the same people who go nuts when a really talented person gets a raise when they had the audacity to take their scheduled vacation.

In short, these are the idiots. First of all, it’s a GAME, people. Until free agency gone wild, and the designated hitter, a game played by KIDS. And, of course, Yankees fans get even more upset than most idiots, since they see themselves as the professionals, the people who actually think that pinstripe business-as-usual approach to the game is cool; the ones who think Manny Ramirez should go kill himself because he drops the bat and watches his long home runs, no matter that he hits about .330 every year.

Maybe it’s just been a slow news month for sports, not that there hasn’t been action, what with the NHL and NBA playoffs going on, and more divisional races in Major League Baseball than we’ve seen in a very long time. But there hasn’t been controversy. You could hear the disappointment in those shock-jock for sports bobble heads’ voices when those Walsh tapes turned out nothing, or when Clemens maybe couldn’t be proven guilty of statutory rape.

Or, maybe their ratings were down. That’s a distinct possibility. These loudmouths certainly aren’t known for their sports acumen. In fact, now that I think of it, it’s those soft guys who never played a sport but majored in journalism who are the very worst offenders. They can’t discuss the sport with any degree of analytical skill. They don’t know it, they can’t really know a baseball player’s feelings if they never had the same experience, if their highest moment in life was an A on some book report. These are, by the way, the same people who get crazy when a blogger gets any attention.

The young man pumped his fist, people! Joba got him (Dave DeLucci) on a breaking ball after having thrown a couple of big-time fastballs on the corner for strikes. That’s big stuff for a kid, hell, for anyone. That he did it against the guy who lambasted him a couple of days before was even sweeter. Gee, I guess his emotions didn’t get the better of him.

I hope Joba keeps right on being Joba. And I hope he eventually gets away from the Yankees. They don’t deserve him, really. Yankees fans don’t deserve him either. Their team can just buy a pitcher. (Not that they’ve had any success whatsoever in THAT department). But, Joba should have been a Royal, or a Pirate, or a Giant, hell, anything but a Yankee. The Yanks never develop anyone, unless you count Kennedy and Hughes, of course. (Word is that they’ll get better).

Another thing that bugs me is that, when DeLucci hit that homer, Cone had just said that DeLucci was a dead fastball hitter. So, um, why didn’t anybody question the pitch selection? THAT was the most obvious question. Or the location? Even though the pitch had been almost letter-high and on the inside corner, a good location against most hitters, it certainly wasn’t a bad location for DeLucci!

The news should be that Joba learned from the first experience. His fastballs were on the outside corner. And those pitches were RIPPED! And Joba’s “out” pitch was the breaking ball in the dirt. DeLucci was badly fooled, which, no doubt, played no small part in his criticism of Joba for his mound antics later on. I say “too bad, Dave, you struck out, you looked bad doing it, sit down”. NEXT!”

Can we just, please, get some real analysis? I know fantasy baseball players everywhere would appreciate some more of that. The reason I like Joba is that he’s on “Dem Crabs”, my fantasy team. I certainly don’t like the fact that he’s a Yankee.

There are so many aspects of the game that are not covered enough. How about Prince Fielder’s troubles? Here’s a guy who didn’t sign a very nice contract offer from the Brewers, a guy who turned vegetarian, and is now having his troubles at the plate. How about Geovany Soto’s and Fukudome’s performances this year, candidates for Rookie of the Year? How about Johnny Cueto pitching lights-out for the Reds? I mean, we hear a bit about these players but, certainly more could be said.

Of course, being in New York, it’s as if no other teams exist. Sports jocks here still think Carlos Delgado is a major slugger. And they anxiously await the return of Pedro Martinez, and look forward to production from 42-year old Moises Alou and the return of El Duque.

And when did we think it was OK for a sports network to own the local baseball team? Now THERE’S a way to kill any journalistic integrity! I think of Michael Kay and cringe. Not that I so much mind rooting for the home team, but at least TRY to maintain some objectivity. The Mets team does a good job of it.

And “Hey Joba, keep it goin’ man”, you’re doing just fine, especially compared to the job these no-nothing sports jocks are doing.