Kuzul

This spring, as the Yankees decided to toss Joba Chamberlain in the bullpen (where he belongs) I kept hearing people being critical of Chamberlain for all the wrong reasons. I heard this phrase over and over again. Over-hyped punk.

Overhyped… That might be true with the “Joba Rules” etc. but can we really blame the kid for that? He’s not the one who decided that he needed to be brought through this disastrous babying system.

He didn’t push the Yankees organization into creating a situation where every single thing he did, didn’t do, or stopped doing because of a pitch count was broadcast on ESPN. All Joba did was come on the scene a few years ago, dominate a three month stretch of season, and then do what he was told (or try to). So to call him over-hyped as a jab to him is uncalled for.

If he is over-hyped then what can be said of Clay Buchholz? Other than his no-hitter what has he done that deserves to be handled with kid gloves when compared to Chamberlain? If you listened to everyone the last couple of springs he is part of the reason why the Red Sox allegedly have a deeper, more stable rotation than the Yankees.

At the start of the seaosn Joba’s career numbers were far better than Buchholz’s.  More  IP, a greater K/9 ratio, lower BB/9, an ERA over a run lower, and unlike the Red Sox starter a winning record for his career.

We won’t mention the fact that the “kid” Buchholz is one and half years older than Chamberlain and had a full extra season in the minors to develop at a more reasonable pace before coming up. People need to think about the fact that Joba has been up in the bigs for how long? At this point in his career Papelbon was JUST ARRIVING in the show.

In addition, I fail to see how this whole situation makes Chamberlain a punk. The guy has listened to everything he’s been told to do without creating a stink. The Yankees told him to pitch three innings and get out whether he gave up five runs or had a no-hitter going… he did it.

They told him they were pulling him out of the rotation and into the bullpen for the playoffs… he did it. They told him that Hughes was to be the fifth starter and he’d be in the bullpen… he did it. So far I’ve heard nothing but positive, team-first quotes from Chamberlain about this (and judging by his publicity so far, we would have known if he said boo).

I also challenge any pitcher or athlete to succeed in a situation like the one Chamberlain went through last year. His role was constantly changing. He could pitch a whole game, then he couldn’t. He could pitch on regular rest, then he had to wait nine days between starts (good luck staying in mid-season form that way). Everything he did along the way was scrutinized under the finest microscope, something that would have utterly destroyed the confidence of lesser men.

In the few times that we saw him allowed to develop some sort of continuity as a starter, he experienced at least a little success, including a three game stretch in late July where he had three wins, giving up a total of two runs in a span of 21.2 innings with 19 strikeouts and only eight hits against the Rays, A’s, and Tigers. (It should be noted that his first nine day rest was immediately after the third game, totally breaking his rhythm). Consistency is what makes athletes what they are.

When Joba was off the leash as a reliever, however, he was electric. While it may be asking a bit much for him to repeat that kind of dominance (24 IP allowing a total of 18 base runners while striking out 34 is a mind boggling introduction to Major League baseball), he has the stuff and the make-up to be one of the best in the game.

The last couple of nights we have seen him ably handle the closing duties thanks to a “stiff left side” of Mariano Rivera’s.  Now the chatter is all about how “this should have been his career path from the beginning”, as if somehow Joba had some kind of say in the matter last year.

Give the kid a break and realize that it’s the Yankees organization that chose this way to handle things, not him. All he has done is quietly go about his business every step of the way, not complaining about it once.

In an era where we seem to look for any opportunity to criticize the selfish “me first” mentality of athletes it’s amazing people don’t climb over top of one another to toss praise on this young man.

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By now we have all seen the video , be it on your sports highlight show of choice or YouTube, of the Phillies fan doing his best Keystone Kops impression for all of about 30 seconds before landing in the “Don’t Tase Me Bro!” hall of shame.

Ashamedly, I laughed at the images (just as many of you probably did).  Make no mistake, however, there is nothing funny about incidents such as these .

Monica Seles was once stabbed in the back during a changeover in a match. Randy Myers was attacked on the mound at Wrigley Field. And Royals first base coach Tommy Gamboa was once assaulted by a father and son combo in the midst of an alcohol-fueled “family bonding experience.”

We live in an era where the powers that be have recognized a direct correlation between a fans proximity/accessibility to the players and a growth in revenue.

Seats are closer to the field than ever before. Players are being immersed into our lives increasingly through new media. And our society at-large is cultivating a bloated sense of self-entitlement in regard to our celebrities.

Add that to the fact that we live in the “YouTube era,” where infamy and notoriety are mistaken for some form of genuine fame. It’s like dumping turpentine on a brush fire.

It’s those misguided beliefs that lead to moments like the one in Philly.

Yes, we do spend our hard-earned money to make everyone associated millionaires. Yes, players, owners, and the leagues themselves have thrived during this renaissance period. But sports invoke passion and we live in violent times. As Fire Marshall Bill would say, “This could be dangerous!”

In regard to this specific incident, the use of a taser was most likely unwarranted. The whole scene was calling far louder for an overdub of “Yakety Sax” than the use of high voltage force.

Personally, the only thing I take away from this display is that the field should be secured more effectively. That, and some people should not be allowed to have children.

But don’t let that distract you from the larger issue at hand. Players have no business going into the stands (yeah, I’m looking at you, Milton Bradley) and fans should, under no circumstances, ever go out onto the field of play.

Nothing good can or ever will come from it.

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For Red Sox fans, there weren’t too many things to cheer about in the month of April.

The team got off to a horrendous start, plagued by a surprising lack of pitching and a not so surprising lack of offensive punch.

David Ortiz is once again showing himself to be “Big Pop-up” as opposed to “Big Papi,” and the offseason acquisitions of Marco Scutaro, Adrian Beltre, and Mike Cameron have provided minimal run production.

Granted, they were chosen to emphasize a new strategy of “run prevention,” but they have struggled in that regard too. Bad pitching, shoddy defense, and a lack of offensive production are not the traits quality teams are known for.

Needless to say, this is NOT a quality team right now.

Now comes word that a more ominous threat to Red Sox nation lingers on the horizon. Russ Smith at Splice Today notes that a poor season by the Red Sox might cause John Henry some financial trouble:

“John Henry, the Sox’s principal owner, cannot be a happy man, for though he loves baseball, it’s safe to say the billionaire (a proud liberal, by the way; a gratuitous aside, granted, but I’m in a grumpy mood) loves profits even more. And the Sox, who’ve sold out Fenway Park for an MLB record-setting 763 consecutive games (as of May 2), are headed to an unfathomable .500 season, which means the sellouts will end, the revenue stream slows down, and disgust will envelop the greater New England territory all summer long.”

Russ talks of a hope that maybe he can take solace in the fact that losing drives the bandwagon fans away. He fails to account for the fact that those are the fans who are driving up ticket prices and accordingly paying the bills. If the John Henry bubble collapses, it could be years before the Red Sox are able to pay top dollar for talent again.

As much as they like to think of themselves as “the little engine that could,” the Red Sox are nothing more than the New York Yankees Lite (see the John Lackey deal, Dice-K’s contract, the Julio Lugo and Edgar Renteria “throwaway deals,” etc.).

The problem lies in the fact that Henry’s group was highly leveraged when they bought the Red Sox, so they need to keep the team winning to pay the bills. This is why Theo Epstein once quit the Red Sox. He wanted to step back for a season and regroup to set the franchise up for the long haul. The people who control the money wanted to win each and every year, because that’s how they pay the bills.

If fans stop buying Red Sox Nation memberships, stop watching NESN, or decide that a few hundred dollars for a couple of good seats is too much, the bubble will quickly burst.

At this point you run the serious risk that the Red Sox suddenly became worth less than the amount borrowed to purchase the team. It happened to a whole lot of people who bought houses at the peak of that bubble, and it could happen to Boston.

People think of the Red Sox now and all they see are sold-out games, but it wasn’t that long ago when you could walk up to the ticket booth the day of the game and get a decent seat. It even wasn’t all that long ago where you could pretty much sit where you wanted in the damn park.

There is a lot at stake right now, more than just the team’s position in the standings this season. A difficult season can have minimal negative impact on the long-term health of the franchise. A horrible season, i.e. one in which the Sox don’t get demonstrably better (and sooner rather than later), could cripple this franchise for some time to come.

And you people in New England thought the only highly leveraged investments that screwed you over came out of the offices of Goldman Sachs. D’oh!

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