Joba Attending The Ian Kennedy School Of Media Relations

Yes, I just made fun of Ken Davidoff's column, but if you can get past the "OMG" in the first sentence, he's making a good overarching point. Here's what Joba said after his performance last night (emphasis mine):

"It's a win at the end of the day," Chamberlain told reporters. "I didn't throw well at all, but at the end of the day, 10 to 8, the Yankees win. There's really not much to be mad about.

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"I did a good job today [of attacking hitters], I felt like," he said. "They're great hitters. I threw good pitches and they put good swings on it. They've been doing it all year. They're going to continue to do it.

(Until Alfredo Aceves comes into the game, of course...)


Yes, a win is always the bottom line, but there's "not much" to be mad about? How about your shitty performance coming the day after a 12 inning game which had obviously taxed the bullpen? What about being staked to a 4-0 lead and pissing it away? Perhaps the fact that you needed 86 pitches to get 11 outs? No one else on the Yankees has anything to be mad about because they put together a heroic effort to save your ass after you were already in the showers. But you? You should be a little ticked off.


Now here's what Ian Kennedy said last August 8th after getting blasted by the Angels two days before he was optioned back to AAA:

"I felt like I made some good pitches," he said. "I'm not too upset about it. What was it, a bunch of singles and three doubles? I'm just not real upset about it. I'm just going to move on and I've already done that."

As fans, we are disappointed when a starting pitcher has a poor outing, so the natural inclination would be to want the players to be unhappy with themselves as well. We want them to take responsibility for their mistakes or at least acknowledge that they messed up. There's no sign of any of that in either of these snippets.

Mariano Rivera is constantly lauded for his "short memory" and how he doesn't let one bad performance negatively impact his next one. The difference is that Rivera faces the media after a blown save or a loss and owns up to his poorer efforts.

Is it Joba's attitude that's keeping him from turning in quality starts? Is it like a 12-Step Program where you first have to admit that you have a problem before you can address it? I don't know, but his quotes certainly aren't good signs.

I still don't think he's boring to watch. But frustrating? You better believe it.

April All Over Again

After a rain delay of 12 minutes the gametime temperature sat at a rather chilly 55 degrees. The air was opaque with mist and a huge amount of seats sat empty. The atmosphere was eerily reminiscent of the game that Schiff and I went to on April 21st. Andy Pettitte was the starter that night as well, but the main difference was that the lefty lasted seven innings, gave up two runs and the Yankees came away with the win. Not tonight.

Tonight was another frustrating outing with RISP (1-6) although it wasn't as bad as the series finale in Cleveland (3-16), which they won. Pettitte got the Yankees in the hole right off the bat, allowing three runs in the first inning. Nelson Cruz hit a ball right back toward Pettitte that would have likely become a double play if it hadn't deflected off it Andy's leg. A DP would have ended the inning, but Ian Kinsler scored on the play and the Rangers worked across two more runs on a groundout and a single. The inning would have continued on longer if it weren't for Melky Cabrera's outfield assist, throwing out Marlon Byrd at third base from right field.

Pettitte did not look sharp at any point in the game, but the first was the only inning where the Rangers would do significant damage. Allowing 13 baserunners in 5 innings typically leads to more than four runs, but Pettitte has always found ways to sneak out of tight situations. The six strikeouts and the double play he induced certainly helped his cause. 

It looked as though his back problem was flaring up as replays showed him wincing as he labored towards first base in the fourth inning. He apparently got through whatever it was and came back out for the fifth, finished the frame and ended up throwing 104 pitches.

The Yankees brought home a run on a single by A-Rod, the only one they would plate in the first six innings. Despite throwing only 59 of his 98 pitches for strikes, Feldman mostly stumped the Bombers. He gave up three walks and five hits, the last of which being a homer to Jorge Posada before getting pulled in the 7th. Of the 14 outs Feldman got on balls in play, 11 were grounders. Although he's not a name brand guy, Feldman's ERA of 3.79 and 5-0 record in seven starts (four in Arlington) is nothing to sneeze at. 

The Yanks shot themselves in the foot plenty of times, however. A-Rod rapped into a double play with one out and the bases loaded in the third inning. After Johnny Damon advanced to third on an errant pickoff throw by Feldman, A-Rod struck out in the sixth with a man on third and only one out. He struck out again in the eighth with Nick Swisher on first, bringing the total number of runners he left on base to five. The bottom third of the line up, (Melky, Matsui and Gardner) reached base only twice in ten plate appearances and Jeter went 0-4 in the leadoff spot. When a four person stretch in the order has a night that bad, it makes it tough to score runs without hitting long balls. 

On the bright side, Nick Swisher filled in admirably for Mark Teixeira, going 2-3 with a walk. Brett Tomko also pitched terrifically in relief of Pettitte, throwing three shutout innings and keeping the game well within reach. David Robertson added his own scoreless frame in the ninth. 

One difference between this and the games the Yankees were losing in April was the level of frustration. April started off bad, and never really got better. There was a sense of angst building, but the Yanks' success as of late makes routine losses like this one much easier to tolerate. The opposing pitcher had a good night and they didn't manage to score enough runs. It happens. Fortunately, the matinee on the schedule today means the loss won't linger too long, either.