Sunday was a good day for mocking. First in Baltimore:
Huff not only greeted Chamberlain with a first-inning three-run homer Sunday, he mocked the Yankee pitcher with a pair of Joba-style animated fist pumps - first on the base path and then after crossing home plate . . . Girardi wouldn't comment on Huff's display other than to say he felt it actually worked to Chamberlain's advantage, giving his pitcher motivation to quiet the O's.
A friend sent Brian Wilson a photo of Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake mocking the crossed-arms gesture that the Giants' All-Star closer makes when he finishes off a victory. The gesture is symbolic of Wilson's faith and it's also a signal to his late father. Several veterans approached Wilson and appeared to be trying to calm him down.
The reactions of both Chamberlain and Wilson were telling. Here's Chamberlain:
Chamberlain said he didn't see Huff's fist pumps, but even if he had, he insisted they wouldn't have bothered him. "I have no reason to be upset," Chamberlain said. "He did what he was supposed to do with the pitch and hit a home run. If he wants to do a back flip, he can do a back flip."
Here's Wilson:
When asked what was upsetting him, Wilson grudgingly showed the photo on his phone to myself and Henry Schulman of the SF Chronicle. (It showed Blake seated in the dugout with his arms crossed.) He didn't want to say anything, though. We asked if Blake's gesture was an affront to his faith. "Yeah, and my dad," Wilson said.
I asked if he'd remember the next time he faced Blake. Wilson shrugged and clamped his mouth shut. From the next locker over, Jeremy Affeldt said, "Blake knows what he did."
Advantage Chamberlain, who seems to realize that, no matter what your inspiration for the on-filed display, the fist pumps, gesticulating and emoting work to show up batters in a pretty basic way. If you do that, you have to expect some blowback once in a while, and Wilson would do well to realize that rather than pout about it. And really, letting a guy like Casey Blake get under your skin pretty much tells the rest of the National League that you're easy to get to, which is not the kind of image a big tough closer should want to be projecting.
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I thought Huff's display was pretty classless. Joba's hardly the only guy who does an occasional fist pump, but I don't see Huff doing it when he hits his rare home runs off anyone else. Maybe Huff ought to focus on trying to get a winning season for a change.
Ed Pal.....Huff is classless, Joba is just on of the guys. Get a grip!!! Pitchers who mock hitters have nothing to complain about and to his credit Joba said the same thing.
I'd hardly call Huff's homers rare. Dude hit over 30 of 'em last year.
Anyway, regardless of what the various players involved thought of them, Huff's fist pumps delighted O's fans. Considering Aubrey seemed to be going out of his way to piss us off when he first came to town, that's a pretty good sign. Also: 3 run homers make a lot of other nonsense go away. Unless you're A-Rod, I guess.
The final score, (Yanks 5 - O's 3), Delighted Yankees fans...
Joba seems to take the "game" just serious enough and have some fun with it. As per Harper of the News, perhaps a little more intensity will get the whole wagon rolling.
BTW, thank the Blue Network for fixing e-mail.
Just PLAY ball and chill out. It's our National Game--let's just try to enjoy it and not just dissect it!!
My take is that this "writer" (HA!) is the kind of guy who spent most of his life being mocked and ridiculed and never ever had the stones or manhood to do anything about it. Just sit there and whine about it, that's what a real man would do eh nimrod.
You keep the mockers and cukholds on your side and give me the guys who both display respect and will leave a seam tattoo on your neck when you act the weasel fool and let's see who laughs last.
Matt: you're cute when you're incoherent. Don't ever change, no matter what the people say.
Did he just reference cuckolds in a baseball context? Does he know what that means?
Yeah, wow, what is this, a Mad Libs? Psycho-babble. I got a verb or two for you if you'd like Matt.
Hahahaha....
mockers, nimrods, weasel fools, and yes... somehow or other, cukholds?!!??!
Matt, you don't know what words mean, do you?
if you are going to dish it, better be able to take it. joba can take it, but this wilson guy sounds like he wants some milk and cookies, and to have his mommy give him a big hug.
(Homer Simpson voice)
Mmmmm, milk and cookies.....
I'm making the assumption that when Joba plunks Huff in July for diss'n him in May that neither Huff nor the O's team who all discussed this action BEFORE the game and the O's fans who delighted in it will not have a problem. Huff decided he would take up the Boston fight and when he is on his back in the dirt of Yankee Stadium he better just pop up and smile and say "That's baseball".
This doesn't have to be about some Boston-New York thing. Baseball exists outside of that rivalry, and other players are certainly allowed to have opinions on what is and isn't appropriate.
But yeah, if Joba wants to throw at Huff he can either take it or maybe it'll escalate. That's how all these things work.
Wow, all the baseball news out there right now...how did this get attention?
Yankees fans are unbelievable, its ok for Joba to pump to fist in the air, but God forbid some someone does it in return then heck we have to plan retalliation... Will it ever stop with you people- 8 years of winning NOTHING and you are still obnoxious
Ah jeez... here we go... First of all, Joba himself said....
It's all fine.... However I will add, that Joba does it out of sheer emotion, and not pretense. That is just who he is. And he is not the only pitcher doing it. But even though Huff was only doing it to be a spiteful little doosh to Joba, and not because he felt that that genuine rush of adrenaline and emotion, STILL , Joba had the class to say it's ok with him.... and then he went on to shut the O's down, and pitch well and win the game. So where is the obnoxious behavior in that?
All I am saying is that anyone can react however they please, whether they are a Yankee, a Red Sox or whatever... I am a national league fan but I can only imagine the Yankee fan --Joba pumps his fist "genuine rush of adrenaline "-let us see what remarks they have for when Mr. Papelbon or Mr. F Rodriguez do the same same thing agains their precious A-Roid or Jeter.
I'm glad you mentioned those two, because they DO do it, and with them it is equally as genuine... (K-Rod is a bit more annoying though, because he seems to drag it on too long)... but they both HAVE done it against both A-Rod (our resident overpaid dooshbag) and Jeter (our resident class act 110% ball-player)... as long as it's genuine, and not like you're pointing at the batter and taunting him... I think it's fine, be it Joba, Papelbon, or K-Rod.
I would agree that Wilson needs to have a thicker skin about this, but mocking a guy's faith/tribute to his father? That's rough. I could see how I might be pissed about something like that.
The media latches on to ANYTHING that involves one or more of the Yankees, and can be spun to somehow sound "controversial"... especially if it pits one player against another... the media can be like those kids in high school that would shout "fight, fight, fight... " to get some action happening between to idiots on a boring day....
Joba does act like he's never struck anyone out before. Some of his antics are weak. It's the old Roger Clemens thing they used to say when he played in the AL - he only does it because he doesn't have to grab a bat.
Huff will never be anything more than a marginal player at best and the Orioles will finish at or near the bottom of the division once again. So, who cares what what that loser did to mock Joba.
I'm glad to see Joba's reaction but the only thing really that got me about what Huff did is why is it ok for batters to admire their home runs or flip their bats or any of the things they do when they hit home runs but it's not ok for pitchers to do something when they do something exciting? I don't know if Huff ever admires his home runs for does the bat flip but batters do in general.
Yeah Manny Ramirez was the worst with that crap... Taking his sweet ass time to admire his home roid... er... run.... But you know, that was just Manny being Dooshy.... now he can stand back and watch his career sail away.... Guess that Red Sox "Idiots" nickname they gave themselves a few years ago was pretty accurate.
And yes, I'm a Yankee fan... and yes, the sox are playing better than the Yanks right now... but it's long season....
Actually it's been 8..............................
Yeah... and??? So are you saying that the Yankees need to win the world series every single year for me to be allowed to be a vocal fan, and for Joba and any other Yankee to get excited and show some emotion when they play?
Ok Wetoti... which team DO you support? Or are you one of the people that would rather spend all their time bashing on the Yanks than actually get behind a team of their own? You mentioned National League... Let me guess... Phillies?
Oh Oh- are we getting upset? No I support a team who has not won in 23 years, and who has the disfortune to live to share the city of the almighty Yankees that think that cash can win them WS. So it's good to see the Rays, the Jays so far this year win..... My team is almost as bad but we are overshadowed by the "Evil Empire" that think that getting Sabathia and Burnett and A-Roid, Tex they can Win, Win Win-- well, well well.. Hopefully we can resume our conversation in October, and perhaps yes the Phillies will have defeated the Mets again but won't it be a sad sight to see a $200+ Mil team not be #1-- like Kay would say "SHOCKING"
Oh.... say no more. You have the Mets "little brother" syndrome.... And don't act like the Mets are above throwing money around too... How much is Santana making? Beltran?
Believe it or not, I actually happen to like the Mets... I do... because I am a New Yorker who (get this...) supports New York teams.... (and believe me they don't make it easy... they all kind of suck, Jets? Knicks? eesh...) However, I was a Yankee fan since the 80's when they were horrible, and have remained so.
I don't hate the Mets, I don't even hate Boston... I just hate Boston Fans... Without the Red sox the AL East would be really boring... I actually like the Mets... and have the balls to go to some Mets games wearing a Yankee hat... which of course they just love.... I especailly liked the Mets in 2000... remember that championship subway series? Yankees 4 - Mets 1.... Ah... good times...
Aubrey Huff has always come across as a classless person -- when he left Tampa, he trashed the city to whatever reporter, radio station, or TV station that would listen... he did the same for Houston, too, when he left them.
He's a great lefty power with no defensive skills and nothing to contribute to the character of a team. I'm so glad that Tampa got rid of him before their next wave of prospects came up. Could you imagine Evan Longoria getting jaded by somebody as negative as Aubrey Huff?
Wilson needs to lighten up. Any gestures to his faith or his father are personal and should be kept off the diamond. Maybe he should let his play do the talking and ditch any silly gestures that separate him from his team. Its the San Francisco Giants, not the San Francisco feat. Brian Wilson and his faith and his fathers memory. Look, lots of people have faith and have lost a parent although most do not do silly gestures to express it.
Good for Blake. It's a cheesy "look at me" gesture and Casey called him on it.