Bouncing back: On A-Rod and Urban Rebounding

I had dinner plans in Brooklyn Thursday night, so I missed seeing Alex Rodriguez get to 2998 and 2999 on the all-time hits list. (Incidentally, he got the hits against pitcher Mat Latos, who has a cat named...wait for it...Cat Latos! No joke.)

But I was listening to the Yankees radio broadcast, so I heard John Sterling call it, and I heard the crowd boo and chant a certain epithet when Sam Dyson refused to throw anything that A-Rod could hit. Pretty funny.

I was glad he didn't get to hit, though. After all, I have tickets for tonight's game. And Alex will have to reach 3000 since I will be in the house, won't he?

Anyhow, I am totally fascinated by the way A-Rod has bounced back this year. It wasn't that long ago when a certain segment of fans (and sportswriters!) said that the team should just cut him. Remember that? Now he is arguably the Yankees' MVP, and definitely the team's most popular player!

Anyhow, as Squawker Jon pointed out earlier today, I wrote an article for the Washington Post called "The Redemption of A-Rod." I initially hoped to be on the paper's online PostEverything area. Somehow, not only did I end up in the Outlook (op-ed) section, which is where their big-name columnists write, but my article will be in the Sunday Washington Post, which has the most circulation of any of their editions. I feel blessed and honored and all that good stuff. Unbelievable.

So people in DC who are reading the Sunday WaPost to see the important things that are going on in the world will also see 1300 words or so of me squawking about A-Rod and cracking jokes. How funny is that? My degree in Arodology is finally coming in handy!

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In my continued efforts at not just my fitness journey, but at personal growth, I have been putting myself out there, trying to conquer my fears and hopefully becoming a thinner, braver and more confident person out of this. Part of that is trying things I have never done before.

So the other night, I jumped on a trampoline for 45 minutes last night and survived! Heck, I thrived! I had so much fun it should be illegal.

Now, it wasn't the type of trampoline Joba Chamberlain broke his ankle on -- and I gave him so much grief for! Instead, I took the Urban Rebounding class at the New York Health and Racquet Club, my gym (you can see a video of of the class works here.) You get a small, round personal "rebounder" trampoline that is only about a foot or so off the ground. And you bounce around on it. So much fun!

I have wanted to do this class for a long time. But I wasn't about to do it when I was at my heaviest -- I was afraid of disaster!

However, I have lost 40 pounds, so I figured it was time to give the class a try. It was fabulous.

I am not done facing my fears. I still have plenty of things that terrify me. But I am a work in progress, and I am doing better than I was. Kind of like A-Rod!

It's about time: Yankees are really ready to rumble

Are the New York Yankees really in it to win it? Finally, this team is acting like a playoff one – and so is Joe Girardi, who is finally making the moves you need to make if you want to see this team make it into October.

Aside from the Yankees’ great play as of late (they should have won all six games in this homestand so far if it weren’t for that bullpen implosion) a few other things give me hope:

Phil Hughes is knocked out of the starting rotation

Fortunately, the Phil Hughes Experience is coming to an end, which is good news for Yankee fans who actually want to see their team win and not be knocked out of the game by the second or third inning. Hughes is leading the league in one thing this season – the most games where he was knocked out before the end of the fifth inning!

It was shocking to me that Girardi had him start the game against the Chicago White Sox on Monday, given that pretty much every game is a must-win these days. Why put your team out of it by putting Hughes as the starting pitcher? Fortunately, the rain cooperated, and kept Hughes from finishing his start, which gave the Yankees the chance to put up that epic eight-run inning, the inning White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson said was the worst he had ever announced.

Anyhow, David  (I nearly wrote Aubrey) Huff is starting against Boston this weekend, which at least gives the Yanks as good a chance as any to win. Hooray!

Mariano Rivera pitching in the eighth

I was also pleased last night to see that Mo was brought into the game in the eighth inning when David Robertson couldn’t get out of a jam. With so few games left, every single one is a must-win, and I am glad Girardi took action instead of watching the lead totally disappear. Besides, it’s not like the Yanks have to keep Rivera fresh for next year – this is it.

Joba Chamberlain being banished to Never-Never Land

I try to find good in every Yankee, but it is very hard with Joba these days. IMHO, he should have been DFAed after his trampoline disaster. You know what you need to know about Chamberlain as a person? Pretty much every single team and opposing player to face the Yankees this year has said or done something to honor Mariano Rivera, from all the gifts he had received, to the reaction of the players on both teams at the All-Star Game. Even Squawker Jon was on his feet when Mo came into a Yankee game we attended earlier this year as a sign of respect. 

Yet Joba gets into a squabble with Rivera in front of reporters, telling him not to shush him when he was being a loudmouth. It takes a special kind of jerk to be against Rivera, but that’s our Joba!

Anyhow, after Sunday’s debacle, when Joe Girardi actually thought it was a good idea to pitch him in a close game, I never want to see Chamberlain in a game for the Yankees again. Enough already. At the very least, it appears now that Girardi will not ever put him in an important situation again. Nor  should he.

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I will be at the game tonight, to see the first of the four Yankees-Red Sox games in the Bronx this weekend -- will watch the other three games on TV. This is the first time in a while that the games have any real buzz – partly due to the standings, and partly due to Ryan Dempster. Incidentally, if the Yanks win the World Series this year, should they cut Dempster a playoff share?

I am wondering if David Ortiz will gets plunked tonight. It will be interesting to see what happens!

On the Yankees, Joba, and A-Rod

A few thoughts on the state of the Yankees before today's game at the House of Horrors, East Coast Edition -- aka Tropicana Field.

Yes, yesterday wasn't Joe Girardi's finest hour -- obviously, he pulled Phil Hughes too late, even though everybody and their grandmother knew that Mark Reynolds was going to go deep against him. And why he pulled Chris Dickerson -- the Yanks' star of the game -- I don't understand.

But can we talk about Joba Chamberlain for a second? I'm sick of hearing all the excuses for him. Maybe it's not that the Yankees brought him back too soon, use him in the wrong spots, or any of the other excuses. Maybe he's just not very good. And he never will be again.

If his name were John Chamberlain, Joba wouldn't have a career at this point. It's been a lifetime in baseball years since he was a difference-maker. Yet people seem still expect that he's going to turn it around and show the promise he did in 2007. Perhaps it's time to give up on that pipe dream. Whether he's a starter or reliever, he is never going to live up to that, and he's not even serviceable now as a middle reliever. I will not be surprised if the Yanks give up on him after this season.

Joba's ERA is over 10 now. He's looked terrible in pretty much every single game he is in. It's painful to watch him any more. If the Yanks bring him back next year, it will be more of the same.

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Speaking of rushing people back, I see that A-Rod is returning today. If the Yanks weren't clinging on to a two-game lead, do you think he'd back today? Doubtful. Anyhow, he's obviously not in his prime, but I do think it's interesting that the Yanks have been only playing .500 ball without him. (And you know if the Yanks had gone on a run without him, it would be said that it was because he wasn't in the lineup, so I'm going to point out that the Yanks lost their AL East without having him around!)

So yeah, I am officially worried about the Yanks' lead, especially with the new wild card system this year. But I have to look on the bright side -- the Yankees aren't even close to the dysfunction, chaos, and bad baseball that the Boston Red Sox are playing!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Will Yankee Joba Chamberlain be following new rules?

I didn't expect Joba Chamberlain to come back this season from his trampoline disaster in spring training. Heck, I wasn't sure if he would be be able to come back at all in his career. Yet there he was on August 1 in a Yankee game. Good for him. While he didn't pitch well yesterday -- he gave up four hits and two runs in 1 2/3 innings -- at least he was pitching in the big leagues again this season, and there is something to be said for that.

Now I hope Joba has learned his lesson and stops doing dopey things like jumping on a trampoline. Hint -- if he ever feels the need to say "watch this" when he's about to do something, there's a good chance it won't end well! Note to Joba -- here are some things you ought to stay away from doing as well:

• Archery
• Knife-throwing
• Surfing
• Hang gliding
• Beekeeping
• Zip lines
• Bumper cars
• Twister
• All form of jumping, including jumping to conclusions 

Stay safe, Joba!

Imagine if Mets had Yankee-style injuries

A pitcher pitches an inning with a broken elbow. Another pitcher suffers a gruesome injury jumping on a trampoline. A third pitcher, traded for the team's top prospect, goes on the DL. Sounds like the Mets. But it's the Yankees.

The Mets have a well-deserved reputation for screwing up medical matters, but the Yankees have had their own woes lately.  The difference is that nobody is saying "Same old Yankees." Not yet, anyway.

On  Saturday, Cesar Cabral, who was on track to win a job in the Yankees bullpen, pitched an inning with a broken elbow. Now he's on the 60-day DL.

In 2009, Jon Niese appeared to injure his hamstring making a play at first. The crack Met medical team decided to let him try a practice pitch. I still cringe at the sight of Niese crumpling to the ground, now with a completely torn hamstring. 

If Cabral had been a Met, we probably would have had photoshopped pictures of the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail on the mound in a Met uniform while Met trainers agree with him that the loss of his arms and legs is "just a flesh wound."

After missing most of last season, former Met phenom Ike Davis has seen his comeback complicated by something called Valley Fever. The general reaction? Only the Mets could have a player come down with a disease most people have never heard of.

After missing most of last season, former Yankee phenom Joba Chamberlain has seen his comeback complicated by an injury caused by jumping on a trampoline. The general reaction? What a good dad!

When the Mets traded top prospect Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano, they were accused of negligence in failing to realize that Zambrano had a damaged arm.

When the Yankees traded top prospect Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda, manager Joe Girardi described it as "great news" when an MRI showed only shoulder tendinitis.

When reporters noted that Phil Hughes was also diagnosed with shoulder tendinitis last year, and he missed three months and finished the season with a 5.79 ERA, here was Girardi's response:

"They both got tendinitis, but I wouldn't necessarily say they're similar [injuries]," Girardi said. "There's a lot of parts to that shoulder."

Girardi's rationalizing about Pineda's injury reminds me of how some people said that Johan Santana would make it back faster than Chien-Ming Wang and others who had the same injury because all injuries are different.

Of course, all injuries are different. Pineda might miss much less time than Hughes.

Or he might miss more time.

It's way too early to judge the Pineda-Montero trade. And unlike the Kazmir debacle, this trade looked like a good deal for the New York team, or at least a fair deal, depending on how upset one was to see Montero go.
 
But it's fair to say that the trade could look better as of now. And it's fair to say that Mets are no longer alone when it comes to medical misadventures.

Message to Joba Chamberlain: Time to grow up

Joba Chamberlain is his own worst enemy. Not only did he never really apologize Tuesday for his recklessness in jumping on a trampoline when recovering from Tommy John surgery, when he explained how he messed up his ankle, he refused to even admit that he really had an open dislocation in the first place. (Brian Cashman had to do damage control later, explaining the exact nature of the injury.)
 
Talk about denial not being just a river in Egypt. Joba denied he felt much pain. He denied that he would miss much time from this injury; insisting he would be back in 2012. He even denied that this was much of a setback from his recovery from Tommy John surgery, saying:

"It's going to give me more time to rehab," he said. "It's going to allow me to continue my shoulder strengthening and everything that goes along with that. It will put me past that year mark of June. It will be stronger for that and I think that's a positive."

There must be a pony in there somewhere, Joba!

Let's review. A 250+ pound professional ballplayer, who is paid for what his body can do, and who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, thought it was a good idea to jump on a trampoline. Then, he still won't even acknowledge that it was a bad decision, trying to put a positive spin on it. Good grief.

And call me hardhearted, but I'm not buying him pulling the dad card here, when he explained the "biggest thing" he took away from this: 

“This game is very important to me. It allows me to do a lot of things, but my son is my pride and joy. The biggest thing is to don’t be so hard on yourself and realize what you were doing; you were trying to be a great dad."

Yeah, because that's the biggest problem with Joba Chamberlain; that he's just too hard on himself. Now I'm worried he's going to get another injury -- hurting his arm again from patting himself on the back so hard!

And sorry, but I guess I missed  how recklessly risking your career and your future earning powers makes you "a great dad." As my friend Sully Baseball put it, "Do you know what a REALLY good father would do? Not put at risk a career that could not only take care of his kids financially but their grandkids as well."

Joba also said, "I’m never going to look at anything I do with my son as reckless.” Not even when he had to sign a waiver warning him of paralysis, death, and all sorts of injuries that could ensue when going to this trampoline facility. Using Joba's logic, that skateboarder who fell with his kid at a skateboarding park is a candidate for Father of the Year!

He also called the incident "another thing in the book of Joba." Is that book written in crayon?

When asked what he learned from this debacle, Joba said this:

"Never question being a father," Chamberlain said. ""I felt like I let my team down, to be perfectly honest with you, and that's the most frustrating part. But when I looked back and realized what was going on, I will never question being a father."

Oh, great. Thanks in no small part to the Bob Klapisches of the world, who have been pushing this "he was just being a good dad" nonsense, Joba really believes this stuff.

But maybe it's time for Mr. Chamberlain to start questioning things -- starting with his terrible decision-making, and continuing with his lack of conditioning and commitment to the game.
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And it's time for Joba to grow up already. Is he really trying to tell us there was nothing that he could have done with his son in Tampa, Florida, one of the great vacation spots in this country, that didn't involve risking his career and health. Really?

Joba  also said:

“It’s still frustrating because I feel that I let [the team] down,’’ he said, “but that’s the biggest thing that I got. It’s just another hill that I’ve had to climb, and we’ll get over it and we’ll get going and be better for it.’’

Except he's the one who put the hill there. Not anybody else. He really is his own worst enemy.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

The curious case of Joba Chamberlain and the trampoline

Squawker Jon called me yesterday to tell me the news of Joba Chamberlain suffering an open dislocation on an ankle due to jumping on a trampoline. This was the second Friday in a row with shocking news -- last week, of course, was Andy Pettitte's return. But this week's news, of course, is really awful.

First of all, I hope Chamberlain makes a full recovery -- it sounds like a horrible, gruesome injury, and he reportedly lost a lot of blood. And what a terrible thing for his young son to see. Ankle injuries are serious stuff -- it's taken nearly two years for Kendrys Morales to recover from busting up his ankle. Joba's got a long haul ahead of him, that's for sure.

That being said, I know I will get some grief for this, but I have to wonder what the heck he was thinking here. Any time you engage in a physical activity, it's a risk, especially when you are a professional ballplayer who is paid based on being able to perform physical tasks, which is why the Yanks ban so much off-season physical activities, including pickup basketball, as Aaron Boone learned. (If I ran the Yankees, I would ban players from doing anything more strenuous in their free time than tiddlywinks and Monopoly, but that's me!)

Anyhow, given that Joba is recovering from Tommy John surgery, you would think that he would think, if nothing else, that if he were to stumble on the trampoline, that he could mess up his arm again. In addition, according to Daily News columnist Bill Madden, Joba had been "explicitly told by the Yankee trainers not to engage in any sort of physical activity that would potentially put his arm in harm’s way."

And trampolines are more dangerous than you might think. Did you know that a lot of homeowners' insurance companies will not cover you if you have a trampoline? They are that dangerous. As the Bleeding Yankee Blue blog pointed out, a lot of people -- over one hundred thousand in 2006 -- get hurt jumping on trampolines. And, as I discovered today, a few people have even died from using trampolines.

In addition, I did some research on Tampa play centers that have trampolines. We do not know as of yet which place Chamberlain went to with his son, but I found information on two big trampoline centers in Tampa --AirHeads Trampoline Arena and Boing! Jump Center. And at both places, you have to sign waivers detailing all the risks you potentially face at their facilities. Here is just some of what the two-page AirHeads waiver says:

All participants acknowledge that participation in ATA trampoline games or activities entails known and unanticipated risks that could result in physical or emotional injury, paralysis, death, or damage to myself, my child, to property or to third parties.  I understand that such risks simply cannot be eliminated without jeopardizing the essential qualities of the activity. The risks include, but are not limited to: Slipping and falling, collision with fixed objects or people, injuries that include: sprains, fractures, scrapes, bruises, cuts, dislocations, pinched fingers, and serious injuries to the head, back or neck; the negligence of other participants, myself, or my child; my own or my child’s physical condition; physical contact with others; and failure to warn of an inherent risk.  

The Boing! waiver says, in part, that:

Such risks could result in, but not be limited to, damage and/or injury to myself, to property, and/or to third parties and/or entities, including, but not limited to: loss of property, loss of balance, fatigue, dizziness, paralysis, quadriplegia, death, and/or physical and/or emotional injuries, including, but not limited to, sprains, strains, contusions, abrasions, fractures, scrapes, bumps, bruises, cuts, lacerations, soft tissue damage, dislocations, pinched fingers and/or nerves, and/or serious, crippling and/or disabling injuries to the face, arms, hands, legs, feet, head, back, shoulders, spine, spinal cord, neck, internal body parts and/or any other body parts.

So, if Joba went to either of these places or to another other trampoline facility, chances are extremely likely that he would have had to sign such a waiver. Why didn't it occur to him, when signing a waiver saying about how you could potentially die or become a quadriplegic from jumping on a trampoline, that perhaps it wasn't the greatest idea in the world to do so?

I have heard people defend Chamberlain for going to a play center, suggesting that he was just being a good dad with his son. Yet he could have just let his son jump on the trampoline, or picked a less dangerous activity to do with his son for that day instead. You can think I'm too judgmental if you want, but I can't get past why an injury-ridden ballplayer recovering from surgery would think that jumping on a trampoline would be a wise decision. This isn't like getting injured by riding the Dumbo kiddie ride at Walt Disney World, after all.

So, I hope Joba fully recovers from the ankle dislocation. But I also hope that he starts taking things more seriously. As much as I think the Derek Jeter worship in this town is over the top, I do appreciate that Derek has always taken care of himself and stayed out of situations that could jeopardize his health and his career. It might do Joba some good to think to himself once in a while, "What would Derek Jeter do?"

What do you think about Joba Chamberlain? Tell us about it!

Why I Find the "Overrated Baseball Players" List Amusing

There was a whole to-do yesterday over four Yankees being named to Sports Illustrated's poll of the Most Overrated MLB players, with Alex Rodriguez, Joba Chamberlain, and Derek Jeter taking the top three spots, and Nick Swisher tying Jayson Werth and Jonathan Papelbon for fourth place.

And for once, A-Rod, the "winner" of the contest voted on by his peers, outdid Derek Jeter, No. 3 on the list, when it came to handling negative attention with a smile and a laugh. For that matter, Joba Chamberlain, who came in second, said all the right things, too. Jeter, not so much.

Here's the scoop. Erik Boland of Newsday describes the scene in the clubhouse yesterday, with Joba, who "won" the title last year, teasing A-Rod about it:

"I lost," Chamberlain proclaimed for the rest of the clubhouse to hear. "I got beat out. No. 2, though...I guess I passed the torch on to Alex."


Upon seeing Rodriguez enter the clubhouse, Chamberlain, surrounded by reporters, yelled at the third baseman.


"You’re next Al, you’re next!"

Here's how A-Rod reacted:

Rodriguez smiled for almost the entirety of the time he spent talking about the anonymous poll.


"I’ve been on this list before," A-Rod said before pausing and taking note of 3/5 of the list comprising Yankees. "So it’s three Yankees? So I’ll see you guys next summer again."


Rodriguez also poked fun at his past reasons for making headlines.


Players vote?


"I’m sure I’ll be on it next summer so I’ll try to come up with some better material for you guys," he said.   "But, I will say this. If this is the only thing we’re talking about, fellas, we’re doing good."

 Here was Jeter's reaction, which wasn't quite so jovial:

Jeter was not close to being amused.


"We're doing this again?" he said. "I have no comment on anonymous polls. I've never understood those anonymous polls."


He added: "It's the same thing they do every year, right? I'm focused on more positive things. How about that? There's your quote."


Discussing his chase of 3,000 hits later on, Jeter amended that.


"Consistency is underrated," he said, putting emphasis on "underrated." "That's the quote."

Jeter usually has the right thing to say, as in saying nothing while saying something, but I thought he came off as really cranky here. This poll, voted on by 185 MLB players, is the quintessential example of the "you're just jealous" sentiment. Yankees win every year (Jeter was just as perturbed when he "won" the honor a few years back), because players are jealous of the attention and money they get.

Jayson Werth is on the list this year because he's making a ton of money with the Washington Nationals, and others are envious of his money. Nick Swisher is on the list because of his fame, endorsements, and probably jealousy about his TV-star wife. I would like to think that Jonathan Papelbon is on the list for being annoying, but his inclusion is most likely about jealousy, too. Any player who is on this list ought to consider it a badge of honor, quite frankly. A-Rod and Chamberlain took it in that spirit, while Jeter was peeved.

At any rate, Jeter's talk of his "consistency" is no longer applicable to his career, unless you consider consistently hitting .257 over the past year, with just seven homers, as a good thing. From the start of his career, until May 31, 2010, he put up the following stats:

.317 BA .387 OBP .458 Slug .845 OPS

Here are his stats from June 1, 2010 through yesterday:

.257 BA .333 OBP .336 Slug .670 OPS

Yikes!

Just Say No to Michael Kay's "JoSoMo" Nickname

I am very excited about the way Joba Chamberlain, Rafael Soriano, and Mariano Rivera are pitching out of the bullpen for the Yankees this year. I am significantly less excited over the possibility of the wretched "JoSoMo" nickname sticking to the trio. Ugh. C'mon, Michael Kay, as if foisting "QuanGorMo" onto Yankee watchers weren't enough, now you come up with JoSoMo? Good grief.

My friend Sully Baseball has been complaining about what a terrible era we're in for baseball nicknames, with the creativity consisting of the first letter of the first name, and the next three letters of the last name (A-Rod, A-Gon, etc.), or shortening the last name (Youkilis becomes Youk, etc.) What Kay is doing is even worse. It's like putting Squawker Jon and I's names together and calling us JoLi. JoSoMo is not a nickname; it's an abomination!

How about something emphasizing the power of three, like Triceratops? Now that's a cool nickname. Three Mile Island -- they're so tough, they're nuclear? Three Ninjas? The Three Kings? The Three Amigos? We could get musical with Three Dog Night or Three Days Grace or Three Doors Down. Or operatic with Threepenny Opera! Heck, even Three Billygoats Gruff would be better than JoSoMo!

Or maybe one of our readers has a better idea for a nickname. Please, somebody must have a better idea than JoSoMo!

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I am going to the Yankee game tonight with Kelly, my childhood friend from Passaic, New Jersey. We haven't seen each other since Reggie Jackson was on the Yankees!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

So What to Do About Joba Chamberlain?

There's been a whole to-do this week about the Yankees and weight. First, CC Sabathia said he lost 25 pounds after he dropped his habit of devouring full boxes of Cap'n Crunch cereal (hey, maybe that's what the CC stands for in his name!) Now Joba Chamberlain admits to packing on a few pounds, but claims it's all muscle. Right.

I'm of two minds about Joba. On the one hand, I think the Yankees did him a tremendous disservice with moving him from the bullpen to the starting rotation and back. And I think it was ridiculous for Brian Cashman to characterize anybody who disagreed with the Yankees' strategy as "stupid."

However, there's also some real questions, I think, about Chamberlain's work ethic. And showing up to spring training packing on a few extra pounds doesn't help. If you're working in a cubicle farm, it doesn't matter how much you weigh. But if you're a professional athlete struggling to keep his job, you might want to take a cue from your veteran teammates and show up in shape. Or at least pitch well enough so that your weight isn't an issue.

When I slammed the Yankees last month for the way they handled Joba, I got a lot of responses from Yankee fans who were angry at Chamberlain for his work ethic, for him not being in shape, etc. and who felt that he was the only one to blame for his predicament.

On the other hand, it seems like the Yanks have let him get away with that for a long time; it's interesting that only now Cashman mentions using the minor league options with Joba when he flat-out last year said they wouldn't do it.

Wally Matthews made a point I have wondered about myself when he wrote:

Fans ask me all the time if the Yankees know something about Joba Chamberlain that the rest of us don't, some unflattering bit of information that makes them continue to treat him as if he is fragile, or unstable, or in some way unreliable.

Clearly, they know the Joba Chamberlain who chose to reveal himself on Wednesday: the 25-year-old who already knows so much about pitching he no longer needs to bother with the little things anymore.

Like getting in shape.

I don't expect to hear the inside story, if there is one, anytime soon, though. Heck, I'm still waiting to hear how A.J. Burnett got that black eye!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Do you think Yankees messed up Joba Chamberlain? Brian Cashman sez you're "stupid"

I'm really starting to think Brian Cashman contracted Joe Torre Disease this offseason. The symptoms include believing you're bigger than the Yankees, waging a battle in the media against real or perceived enemies in the front office, and thinking that your you-know-what doesn't stink.

Funny thing is, I have agreed with many of Cashman's moves over the years. Don't forget, he traded for Alex Rodriguez and Bobby Abreu and Nick Swisher, and believed in Robinson Cano before anybody else knew who the second baseman was. Cashman's pickup of David Justice won the Yankees the 2000 World Series, and his stealth swoop of Mark Teixeira helped win the Yankees the 2009 title.

All that being said, the GM seems to have made a lot of inexplicable moves and comments as of late. The latest is Cashman's interview with ESPN NY's Wally Matthews, in which he says that anybody who disagrees with the way the team handled Joba Chamberlain is "stupid":

 "Those people are stupid,'' Cashman said of critics of the Yankees' handling of Chamberlain. "It's just an easy, stupid, idiotic thing to say. There's no screwing anything up. That's how Andy Pettitte came in, that's how guys have been broken in for years. They're starters in the minor leagues, they come up and we use them in the 'pen, and eventually they break into the rotation. So what's the problem? I just think it's naïve."

Aside from the fact that it's pretty insulting to suggest that anybody who disagrees with Cashman is "stupid" and "idiotic," Cashman's Pettitte comparison is inaccurate. Do you know how many relief appearances Pettitte made in 1995, before breaking in to the starting rotation? Five. Do you know how many relief appearances Chamberlain made before becoming a starter? 41. Not exactly the same thing. Not to mention that Petttitte was never moved back and forth repeatedly, the way Joba was.

Pettitte, as a rookie with the Yanks, made five relief appearances over seven innings from April 29 to May 13, 2005. The last of the five was 3.1 innings. Pettitte broke into the starting rotation on May 27 of that year and never looked back. Compare and contrast with Chamberlain, who went from reliever to starter to reliever to starter to reliever to competing to be the starter to reliever. It's enough to make your head spin -- and to help mess up a pithcer.

I do think there is more to the story as to why Joba hasn't been the same pitcher he was in 2007. The injury issue -- what Cashman finally acknowledged the other day -- matters, as does him not appearing to have the determination that, say, Cano had to improve his game. The article also mentions rumors about Chamberlain "burning the candle at both ends."

So I'm not saying that all the moving around is the sole reason Joba is no longer Joba. But it is at least part of it. And why Cashman doesn't want to acknowledge any responsibility is infuriating.

Heck, even Joe Girardi, who is also interviewed in the article, says, "I think there can be some confusion for a player when you're bounced around like that." But what does he know? I guess he's just, um, "stupid." Right, Brian?

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Curtis Granderson is something sort of grandish as the Yankees win

The Grandy Man Can! Curtis Granderson has hit three homers in the past two days, and his two-run homer Monday night, combined with Javier Vazquez's great pitching, helped the Yankees win.

I'm glad to see that Granderson is finally hitting - he's .427 in his last six games. The center fielder is an easy guy to root for, between his engaging personality, and all the charity work that he does. Grandy is also a fellow blogger, so how could I not like him!

Granderson was one of Brian Cashman's big acquisitions this winter; Javier Vazquez was the other one. And Javy struggled so much in the first month of the year that he looked like Cashman's Folly. But since then, his ERA has dropped over five runs, and he's pitched more like the Atlanta Braves ace he was last year, and not the hurler Yankee fans remember from October 2004.


Anyhow, Granderson and Vazquez were the two big heroes of the night. But strangely enough, the New York Post didn't see fit to mention either of them on today's back page. Instead, with their cynical "Who Needs 'Em!" headline, Joba Chamberlain and Alex Rodriguez are lumped together as the forces of evil in Yankeeland. See why I complain about the media!

Maybe the Post is just mad that four hours after a headline on a George King blog entry claimed that "Girardi says he is sticking with Joba," Girardi went to Dave Robertson and Boone Logan instead!

As for Joba, I think Girardi is doing the right thing in trying something different. If Joba name were Joe Blow, and not Joba Chamberlain, he would have been demoted a long time ago.


A-Rod, of course, did not hit #600, but he did appear to have a lot of Yankee fans in the house cheering him on. I squawked a lot yesterday about Yankee attendance. As Squawker reader Peggy noted, the Indians have the worst attendance in the majors, averaging around 16K a game. For what it's worth, last night's attendance was 27,224, which ranks third for Cleveland's home game attendance, after Opening Day and Stephen Strasburg's second major league game.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Are you concerned about Joba Chamberlain?

I was a guest on my friend Larry Milian's radio show last Saturday on South Florida radio station WFTL before Old Timers' Day. He also had on CBS-era pitcher Stan Bahnsen on during the same time, so I got the honor of talking baseball with Stan. Here's very knowledgeable on past and present Yankee history, as well as pitching.

Anyhow, we were talking about Joba Chamberlain, and what to do on him. The subject of whether he needed to be sent to the minors came up, with us talking about how doing so has made others straighten up. Anyhow, it was a very interesting discussion. I mentioned about how miserable it was to watch his starts last year - they were so slow-paced - and how I wanted him in the bullpen as time went on. But how he hasn't been the Joba of old in the pen.

It's now a week and a half after this talk. And Joba, who his own peers voted as "Most Overrated" player, got booed by Yankee fans yesterday after giving up that homer to Scott Podsednik. He also was mentioned as being part of a possible Dan Haren trade. And Joe Girardi is still making noise about replacing Chamberlain with Dave Robertson in the eighth inning.

So I'm wondering what readers are thinking. Are you sick of Joba? Do you want him off the team, or in the minors? Do you want him as a starter again?

Personally, I wouldn't be averse to him being sent to the minors, but even then, I don't know if that will solve him. It's all just a mess.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Not a good day in Yankeeland

Sorry I haven't written much as of late, but I haven't gotten to see more than bits and pieces of the last few Yankee games. No truth to the rumor that I was trying to snag that pork chop on a stick!

Of course, it figures that today's debacle is one I did get to see.

First up, seeing A-Rod hit that line drive that hit David Huff in the head was brutal to watch. Yikes! Poor guy. Fortunately, Huff is already out of the hospital, and appears to be A-OK.

I was pretty peeved to see Joba Chamberlain have yet another bad outing, and for the Yankees to lose this game. Geez, you have a six-run lead, you should win the game.

Squawker Jon was so pleased about what happened, he watched the seventh inning on the replay just to see it all!

And Wally Matthews, of all people, made an interesting observation, noting how Joe Girardi referred to Chamberlain:

Afterward, Girardi could barely conceal his disgust.

"We had the game where we wanted," the manager said, his face tight and the veins in his neck throbbing. "We had our eighth-inning guy in, we needed four outs from him ... and he left pitches in the middle of the plate. He just didn't make the pitches when he had to."

Not once did he refer to his pitcher by name. Chamberlain, the darling of the final days of the old Yankee Stadium, had become "he" and "the eighth-inning guy." No longer to be trusted, neither was he fit to be named.

"Players aren't going to be bulletproof," Girardi conceded. "But he's had some bad outings. He's our eighth-inning guy and he's got to get it done for us."

Yes, that's how strange a day it was - Wally Matthews made some good points!

On Joba Chamberlain, and my upcoming radio appearance

Breaking Squawker news: At 4:20 p.m. today, I'm going to be on South Florida's Andy and the Amigo show, talking with Squawker friend Larry Milian about the Yankees. Check me out on 640 WFTL on the dial, or click the listen live button on their website.

I will be talking about last night's playoff game, and about my Faster Times article, about how Joba Chamberlain should go back to the bullpen next year. Hope you can check it out.

What do you think? Leave us a comment. 

The best and worst of ALDS Game 1 - Yankees-Twins

Well, that was a relief. I'm, of course, very happy that the Yankees won. But I'm also relieved. Losing to the Twins would have been being at the short end of a losing match for the ages. Now the Yanks just have to beat the Twins two more times. (Incidentally, Red Sox fan Paul asked me which game I thought the Yanks would lose, to make my Yankees in 4 prediction come true. The Carl Pavano one, of course!)

As for last night, let's break down this Yankee victory's highlights and lowlights:

* Derek Jeter had a great night - the kind of night that justifies his clutch reputation. He started with a single to lead off the game, also had a two-run homer, and two walks. And I think it's appropriate for this team's history that Derek Jeter is the first player to hit a homer in the new Yankee Stadium.

 * CC Sabathia wasn't the best he's been this year, but he still had an impressive start, albeit one with a very shaky beginning. When was the last time the Yankees 1) had an ace to start an October game, and 2) had an ace that actually won the game?

* Part of CC's initial shakiness last night had to do with Jorge Posada, who is getting on my nerves. After doing that little passive-aggressive hissy fit over not getting to catch for A.J. Burnett, it probably wasn't the best time for Posada to have such a terrible night behind the plate, with two passed balls, and all sorts of sloppiness. (He looked as bad as Jason Varitek does out there these days!) After watching Posada chase after the ball, I said to myself, "I just hope we win that game. That’s all I’ve got to say."

* And our long national nightmare is over - Alex Rodriguez finally got a hit with runners in scoring position, and then got another hit with RISP. Did A-Rod say, "Kiss me, Kate" after the game? (Sorry, I crack myself up sometimes!) Anyhow, let's hope that this starts to get the postseason monkey off his back.

* Hideki Matsui had a quietly brilliant season for the Yankees, and he quietly got a critical homer for the Yanks last night, one that allowed Joe Girardi to get his bullpen some work. Some might think he did a little too much mixing and matching, but I think it was good, given the layoff, to have Phil Hughes, Phil Coke, Joba Chamberlain, and Mariano Rivera get some work in.

* Speaking of Joba, I am strongly leaning towards having him as a bullpen guy. For whatever reason, he is a much more fearsome pitcher coming out of the bullpen.

* Nick Swisher was having fun, and got a key hit and RBI. Mark Teixeira, on the other hand, didn't look so great behind the plate. Squawker Jon and I were trying to think of some Twilight Zoneish plot behind it, where some gremlin haunting A-Rod in October moved into Tex's locker!


What do you think were the highlights and lowlights of last night's game? Leave us a comment!

Life imitates art: How Joba Chamberlain is like Charlie Sheen

How great was it to see Joba being Joba again last night? Gone was that annoying nibbler. Instead, the fierce competitve gunslinger was back. And not a moment too soon.

Chamberlain's performance against the Sox reminded me of Charlie Sheen's Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn character in "Major League II." In the movie, his character gets all yuppified and loses his mojo. But he finally gets it back, and becomes "Wild Thing" again. I was half-expecting  Joba to wear a leather vest and have a zig-zag design in his hair last night!

Maybe it was Joe Girardi reading Joba the riot act this week. Or maybe it was my Squawk yesterday, where I wrote, "I have zero faith at this point in Joba Chamberlain. Maybe he'll surprise me tonight, but I doubt it." I think I did a reverse jinx on him - or at least I hope so!

At any rate,  I'm glad Joba was Joba again.

On the other hand, the Ghost of Jason Varitek allowed seven stolen bases last night, with three by Alex Rodriguez, two by Derek Jeter, and one each by Johnny Damon and Robinson Cano. I don't know what's more amazing - that A-Rod, gimpy hip and all, stole three bases off Varitek, or that Cano stole a base!

A-Rod had a phenomenal night all around, with the stolen bases,  the homer, and the four RBI. And Girardi had a good night, too. I appreciate him having this team be so aggressive on the basepaths. I also appreciate him challenging Joba.

In other news, I wrote last night on Twitter (our address is @subwaysquawkers, if you want to follow us) that I felt bad for Jon Lester getting hit by a line drive, as he's one of the few Red Sox I like. And I asked Yankee fan readers on Twitter and Facebook (my page there is at facebook.com/lmswan if you want to be my Facebook friend) which Red Sox players they liked, or at least tolerate.

So who won? No Red Sox player will really ever get love from a Yankee fan, but Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield.(and their manager, Terry Francona) at least are respected, and liked a little.Victor Martinez got a vote, as did Kevin Youkilis. One fan voted for "the bat boy only," another said "the dead ones" where the only ones she tolerated.


One other thing - I had to get my apartment's refrigerator replaced yesterday, so I didn't have time to do my usual list of predictions. But here are a few:

* Jason Varitek won't be behind the plate again this weekend, unless Terry Francona has completely lost his mind!

* We'll hear about Tim McCarver's new album today on the Fox broadcast. Good grief.

* If Yankees clinch this weekend, Joe Girardi will get a pie in his face. Banana cream. (I saw him mention that preference in a Kim Jones interview, where he said A.J. Burnett has vowed to get him with a pie this year.)


What do you think? Leave us a comment!

How do Joba Chamberlain and Jon Lester match up?

To steal a Tug McGraw line, ya gotta believe. This year's Yankee team has finally vanquished the Angels in two games out of three in Anaheim, and now the Bombers are ready to clinch the AL East against the Red Sox this weekend. (Unfortunately, Boston also has a good chance of clinching their Wild Card spot at the Stadium this weekend as well, but I digress.)

Speaking of the wild card, Peter Gammons thinks there should be another round, but I'm totally against it. Read my Faster Times piece here.

Anyhow, if Ian Kennedy could get out of a bases-loaded jam in a one-run game against the Angels, and the Yanks could win that game with such a depleted lineup then the Yanks should be able to win the division this weekend. Unfortunately, I have zero faith at this point in Joba Chamberlain. Maybe he'll surprise me tonight, but I doubt it.

And why is it that Jon Lester, his opponent tonight, has been able to pitch so many more innings at his age despite missing the equivalent of a season with cancer. How does that work, anyway? Lester pitched 81 innings in 2006, his first season in the majors, before getting sick. The next year, he pitched in 12 games (60 innings) after returning to baseball. In 2008, he threw 210 innings, and this year, he is currently at 194, and is set to match his totals from last year. Oh, and he threw 36 innings in the playoffs in 2007-2008 as well.

Meanwhile, back at the Yankee ranch, Joba Chamberlain has all those rules. Yes, Lester has a year of experience on him, but still. Should the Yankees think about moving Joba back into the bullpen? I dunno, but I wish we could have back the guy who challenged hitters, instead of the nibbler we've seen for most of the year. It would be nice to see him make a return tonight!

Coming later today - my predictions for this weekend. But in the meantime, tell us what you think?

Pow! Biff! Time to go back to the BatCave and throw out the Joba Rules

Like most Yankee fans, I've pretty much had it with Joba Chamberlain at this point. For most of the season, he's been terrible. He seemed to turn it around after the All-Star Break, but ever since the Yanks started 1) stretching his starts out and then 2) severly limiting his innings count, he's been worse than awful. Even Jorge Posada is wondering if all these new rules are doing more harm than good:

"It's tough to pitch when you don't know what's going on," Posada said. "It is hard. You pitch three innings and they give you 10 days to pitch. It's tough to pitch like that."

Look at these numbers - since August 1, he's given 33 runs, 50 hits, and 21 walks in 36 innings. But hey, he only pitched 36 innings in those nine starts, so he's as fresh as a daisy for October.

To put the innings in an even worse perspective, Chad Gaudin has given up 12 runs, 30 hits, and 16 walks in 29.1 innings as a Yankee. Heck, even the terrible Sergio Mitre is looking better by comparison - he did something Chamberlain was able to do - shut down the Mariners!

And Joba is still in denial about how poorly he's pitching, telling reporters:

“My delivery was great,” he said. “I threw some great changeups. My slider velocity was great. My fastball velocity was more consistent. … It’s going to take a lot more than this to get my confidence level down, I’ll tell you that much. You can kick me as much as you want but I’m going to come back fighting every time. That’s how I live this life and that’s how I play this game of baseball.”

The sun will come out tomorrow, and Joba is singing like "Annie". But, apropos of yesterday's "Batman" rookie hazing, somebody needs to put a Mr. Freeze on that act!

Incidentally, did Mike Dunn get off easy as being The Riddler or what? Ramiro Pena had it the worst as Catwoman! Mark Melancon is Batman, video coordinator Anthony Flynn is Robin, while Dunn gets the second-coolest outfit of all. The coolest, I thought, was massage therapist Lou Potter's Penguin getup.

I'm digging the Yankees love for the old-school, campy "Batman." I grew up watching reruns of that show. To me, it's 10 times better than the super-serious, ultra-dark and depressing "Batman" movies. Give me glee, and silliness, and over-the-top acting. I don't want drama about comic book misery - I want Vincent Price, Tallullah Bankhead, Eartha Kitt, Burgess Meredith and Liberace as my villains. And put out the "Batman" series on DVD already!

Speaking of the Riddler, it's a riddle as to why Joba is so terrible this year. I hate to say it, but I'm starting to jump on the Joba to the Bullpen bandwagon. Dopey innings rules aside, he is not the same pitcher he was as a starter. For one thing, whatever happened to his fastball?

If only the Yankees had implemented my new Joba Rules that  wear Crocs to the mound and throwing the Bugs Bunny changeup. Kidding.

Seriously, at this point I would trust Chad Gaudin and Alfredo Aceves to Chamberlain as the fourth starter in the playoffs. How sad is that?

What do you think about Joba? Tell us about it!

Great day for Jets and Giants, as Patriots and Cowboys go down in flames

It feels very strange to ever root on the same side as Met fan Squawker Jon, but I was doing just that yesterday with the Jets-Patriots game, and with the Giants-Cowboys. So please bear with me a little, while I do some football talk this morning. I'll be back to baseball (and Joba!) later on today, I promise, after this gridiron interruption.

Jon, of course, like most Mets fan, is a Jets fan. As for myself, I'm not really part of Gang Green (I'm a mild Giants fan, and I root for the Tennessee Titans when Vince Young is playing!) But since I hate virtually everything from New England except for Stephen King and the Gorton's Fisherman, I was of course rooting against the Patriots. And it's not just that most Pat fans are Red Sox fans. It's that New England is the most arrogant team in football. What people accuse the Yankees of, they actually are.

I think Bill Belichick is a sore loser and a clown - the dude seems to be constitutionally incapable of giving anything remotely resembling a sincere post-game handshake. He's above it all, you see.(And I don't want to hear that it's because he wants to win so much. What, the other teams' coaches don't really want to win? Spare me.)

Of course, the coach did the same thing yesterday to Rex Ryan, and he also seemed annoyed that Jets QB Mark Sanchez tried to dare say anything to him after the game. To use the old line from Fat Albert, Belichick is like school in summer - no class.

Then there's that so-called golden boy, Tom Brady. You know, football's Derek Jeter. Only thing is, I've never seen Jeter be so rude with a reporter just doing her job as Brady was last week. After the Patriots' season-opening victory against the Bills, Kolber tried to ask Brady a very innocuous question, about what it was like to be in that dramatic comeback win. The arrogant Tom Terrible, who was practically sprinting off the field while Kolber was on camera trying to talk  to him, made her run across the field to keep up with him before finally spitting out an answer. Whadda jerk.

And, of course, this is the franchise that attempted to register "19-0" and "19-0 - The Perfect Season" as registered trademarks before the Super Bowl.Good grief.

So yes, I was primed to see the Patriots lose yesterday. Squawker Jon and I had a real kumbaya there, as we watched the last few minutes of the game while squawking on the phone together. It is very rare that we agree on anything (Jon rooted for Texas Tech over my Texas Longhorns this weekend, even though he doesn't  even know what a Red Raider is!). So it was kind of fun - albeit strange - to cheer for the same team. I may have been as excited over Gang Green's thrilling victory as he was!

Later on, we watched tthe Giants/Cowboys matchup at the new Cowboys Stadium. I lived in Texas during their '90s championship years, and they were the team that I simply loved to hate. I don't hate them quite as much now - other than the always-odious Jerry Jones, there's nobody really obnoxious to despise on their team. But I will still root against them, especially when it comes to the Giants.

However, I actually think Tony Romo did the right thing in dumping Jessica Simpson. Newsflash to Jessica - aka Yoko Romo - maybe your Hollywood friends think that having a Ken-and-Barbie-themed birthday party is a great idea. For an NFL player, not so much.

Anyhow, it was cool to see the Giants win at the last second - literally - and ruin Jerry Jones' first game at the new monstrosity. That stadium makes the new Yankee Stadium look subdued. And incidentally, did you see Jones digging for gold during the game? What was up with that?

I also liked how somebody in Jones' box seemed to be blocking his view during the field goal. What the heck was that guy thinking?

At any rate, Jon and I were on the same rooting side on that game as well. It's like dogs and cats living together or something! Fortunately, we had him trash-talking about Joba Chamberlain's lousy pitching to be at odds over. Come to think of it, I kind of agree with him there as well. Kumbaya, indeed!


Coming later today - my thoughts on Joba Chamberlain. But in the meantime, tell us what you think!