To Fist Pump or Not?

Emotion is often built up through the aggression and the heat of the moment. Whether it is on the mound at 161st and River Avenue or an intense argument at your local deli with the guy that slices your cold cuts. Baseball is a game that has been built upon match-ups and taking advantage of your opponents mistakes. The battle between pitcher and batter and the 66.6 feet that separate them has become somewhat of an epic confrontation through out sports history. From Bob Gibson facing off against Mickey Mantle in the 1964 World Series, to Lou Pinella bringing in Randy Johnson from the bullpen to close out the ALDS in 1995. There has been a long history of an on going war between the man with ball against the man with stick.

On Tuesday, May 6th 2008 with a 2-1 lead going into the 8th inning Joba Chamberlain was called in to record the hold and get the ball to Mariano Rivera. To counter manager Eric Wedge sent David Dellucci up to the plate. Dellucci did his job and hit a home run over the short porch in right field, and as the ball sailed over the wall Chamberlain doubled over in failure.

After the game Chamberlain and manager Joe Girardi reacted to the first runs ever given up by Chamberlain at Yankee Stadium. Prior to the at bat against Dellucci, Chamberlain had thrown 15 scoreless innings at the ball park in the Bronx to open his Major League career.

"It's going to happen to you," Chamberlain said. "I don't know anybody that's ever pitched that it's not happened to. Everybody's going to take their lumps. It's tough to say as a person because you want to compete, but you understand that this game is set up for us to fail. You keep that in perspective."

With such poise and accountability, it seemed like Chamberlain handled the situation rationally and not getting to caught up in the actual moment. Although the shots of Chamberlain on the bench after the end of the 8th inning was him pulling his hair out, and his knuckles almost a bone white color, I guess he settled down.

"People might think he's somewhat invincible when he gets on the mound," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He's human just like anyone else. He'll learn from this, and it'll make him a better pitcher. In the long run, this will make him a better pitcher. It'll make him tougher inside, and it's all part of maturing."

Two games later in a 6-3 win over the Indians, it was deja vu all over again as Chamberlain was on the hill and with 2 outs, stepping up to the plate was Dellucci. Chamberlain proceeded to strike out Dellucci and do his patented spinning fist pump and yell. Dellucci as the media and others have, found Chamberlain as being disrespectfully and felt like Joba was showing him up.

The following day all hell broke loose through out sports talk radio shows all across America as the Chamberlain bashing was off and running. Every station you turned to the first topic to be discussed was Chamberlain and his bush league fist pump, as if he is the first one to do this.
Now the argument from the older, more established players is what have you done to warrant a fist pump like you did something? Chamberlain playing in his first full season has been ripped and criticized by players through out the MLB as well as the New York media. Players have said that he has to achieve some level of greatness or even establish a sense of longevity within the league before you start fist pumping left and right.

Newly minted Hall of Famer and former Yankees closer Goose Gossage has gotten into the mix of things weighing in on the situation. "There's no place for it in the game," Gossage told reporters Monday during a tour of the Hall of Fame. Gossage coming from the old school mentality of shut up and pitch does admit that todays baseball is different but you still have to keep things in perspective.

Yet other pitchers as well as batters through out baseball history have been just as demonstrative or even disrespectful. Manny Ramirez is a first ballot hall-of-famer, if Ramirez was done playing today he would be in Cooperstown the second he would be eligible for induction. Yet today when Ramirez gets into a pitch and launches it over the wall he stands there for a good 5 seconds and admires his work of art. He stares at the ball flying out the park as if it was the game winning home run in the World Series.

Fransisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez is a pitcher who exudes a somewhat of an battle cry when he strikes someone out. Whether it's the 8th inning or the last out of the 9th inning, when Rodriguez gets that final K of the inning he does a spin off the mound, yelling feverishly pounding his glove and so on. A young Andy Pettite use to be very demonstrative on the mound yelling when he got a strike out or even a big out. Roger Clemens was always known for being dominant on the mound and if he got to you and started playing with your head, he would show you. Now "the rocket" is known for something else whether its Mindy McCready, or possibly lying to congress, or maybe the steroids that he allegedly took, the only place Clemens is going to be feared now is at home when he throws batting practice to his kids.

The fight against Chamberlain and his celebratory fist pump has gotten way out of hand. Chamberlain who has a fastball that touches over 100 mph at times, and a slider that makes you want to go and hide under your covers is simply a kid who is excited. When he pumps and yells he does not do it directly towards the batter as if to show them up, he does it in the direction of his own dug out to celebrate his strike out. And that is the only time he does the fist pump, when he makes a hitter stare at a triple digit fastball, or watch a batter swing a second before a slider even reaches the plate.

Joba Chamberlain is projected to be the successor of the great closer for the New York Yankees Mariano Rivera. Chamberlain is on the mound and doing his job, hes recording outs and a whole lot of strike outs. This fist pump issue has gotten way out of hand, and until hitters find out a way to sustain the success Chamberlain has achieved, i say this...keep pumping that fist Joba.