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No Country For Old Men | Goose Has Harsh Words For Joba
The fist pump. It’s been talked about ad nauseam on talk radio since the start of the season. Yanks’ reliever Joba Chamberlain seems to have taken the celebratory first pump to a whole new level, bringing it out of the ninth inning and transplanting it into the 8th, adding a little spin, and a primal howl. Joba is surprisingly nimble out there for a man of his girth. It’s fearsome, it really is. Not to mention immature and bush league, according to Yankees legend and Hall of Famer Rich “Goose” Gossage. Said Goose:
“There’s no place for it in the game…I’m old school, I’m sorry…I didn’t see [Dellucci] celebrating when he hit the home run.”
Gossage is referring to a game-winning pinch-hit home run that the Indian’s David Dellucci hit off Joba last Tuesday. Two days later, Joba struck out Dellucci and punctuated the ‘K’ with his patented dance routine on the mound.
“It is what it is,” said Dellucci at the time. “If he wants to yell and scream after a strikeout, I guess that’s what gets him going. It’s May baseball. The home run was in a much bigger situation. I didn’t dance and scream.If a hitter did something like that, it would be bush. It’s kind of interesting how a pitcher gets away with it.”
Clearly Goose agrees. Via ESPN:
“That’s just not the Yankee way, what Joba did. Let everyone else do that stuff, but not a Yankee,” Gossage told The Record on Saturday. “What I don’t understand is, the kid’s got the greatest mentor in the world in Mariano [Rivera]. He’s one of the leaders of the team, so you’d think it wouldn’t happen on that team.“But there’s no one to pass the torch anymore, no one to teach the young kids how to act. The Mets did a lot of that [celebrating] last year, and look how it came back to haunt them.”
Gossage told The Record he would never have been allowed to show emotion as Chamberlain does. His teammates would have made sure of that, Gossage said.
“I’m trying to think of what would’ve happened if I did what Joba did, especially if I was a rookie,” he told The Record. “The veterans would’ve sat me down so fast, it would’ve never happened a second time. Truthfully, there would’ve never been a first time.”
If you are a human being that is physically capable of throwing 101 mph and then once in a while you want to pump your fist and let out a little yell…what is the problem?
I think this is more or less a product of the position which Joba is currently in. Due to his abbreviated appearances when he pitches, not to mention coming in late in games, each at bat actually does(usually) mean a lot more because he is protecting leads. If he makes the transition to starter as he allegedly will I think you’ll see that the fist pumping will be kicked down a notch.
If someone really has a problem who is an active player than why don’t they confront Joba man to man? I’ll tell you why, because they respect him, and they are afraid…and they should be. He’s that rare of a talent. Rembember how pissed off Big Hurt was? Ok, so it was an angry smile, you counter, we’ll just agree to disagree.
Gossage is just pissed off that it took him a million years to make the HOF. He’s also extremely jealous of a whole new generation of players who are going to/have made way more money than he ever did(do Joba and Mariano ring a bell?). It might not be fair because his saves were 2-3 innings on average, but it is what it is…and it’s the truth.
Pick on the guy whose father was on the verge of death a few weeks ago. Go after the dude who is just pumped that he can continue to show him that playing baseball with him in a motorized scooter whilst enduring that amazing polio we all hear so much about was actually worth it.
You go, Goose.
I always thought that it was worse when teams like the White Sox shoot off fire works when their team homers. I mean do you have to celebrate like its the forth of july for each homerun?
so Goose can’t criticize Joba cause his father’s in a chair? sorry…you’d made some valid points there before that last remark
joba said he got to the majors being the person he is, so let him be. he was alil more animated last time with delucci but hey, he’s 22 yrs old! if i were pitching at yankee stadium n i was in joba’s position id feel the same way. he’s human. unless every team gets offended then leave it alone, its not that big of a deal.
Whether it’s right or wrong, I think it’s just an immaturity thing. Should he close, start, or remain the setup man, I don’t think we’ll be seeing this throughout his career.