Just Explain it to Them Joba
Both Jonathan Papelbon and Joba Chamberlain are young, talented, and very excitable relief pitchers. You will find one an annoying showboat and the other refreshingly intense, depending on your rooting interest. At least, that has always been my theory. Until now…
Sliced Bread, in a comment at Bronx Banter, opened up another possibility:
He’ll (Joba) probably be advised at some point to curb his enthusiasm, but he might be able to mitigate any hard feelings against him if he explains that he’s not trying to show up the hitters, just blowing off steam. Unlike Papelbon, Joba might be able to pull it off without looking like an a-hole.
Papelbon is trying to embarrass hitters while Chamberlain is simply blowing off steam. He just needs to explain it to the opposing team. It’s a simple misunderstanding.
Interesting theory.
A similar view was presented by Lohud Yankees Blog reader Trisha:
About Joba, I actually took what Joba did as a show of emotional release rather than trying to show anybody up. He managed to get the Big Hurt out and yeah he was pumped. It isn’t like we were up by 5 runs. And here’s another thing for whatever it’s worth. Papelsmear is a big fat overblown walking egomaniac who thinks he is Mariano’s replacement and who thought he should be paid more than the fools in beantown were paying him - and they did it. His second full year in the majors. So when he has that ugly little scowl mouth on the mound or does his little victory pumps, I see that as TOTALLY different from someone like Joba who is probably one of the most humble kids you’ll ever meet. I see Papelsmear’s as “aren’t I great” while I see Joba’s as “yahoo I got the job done!” I’m sure that doesn’t count for anything in terms of people who don’t like any show of emotion, but I do think it’s accurate in terms of their personalities.
The only thing that prevents me from ripping my hair out is remembering that without dimwits like Sliced Bread and Trisha sites like How is Babby Formed couldn’t exist. I guess that’s something.
