Joba Jacks Not An Issue

I've come up with a name for Joba Chamberlain's emotions on the mound: I'm going to call them Joba Jacks, after jumping jacks. Okay, on to further business:

The New York media seems to be trying to make too much of an issue out of these Joba Jacks. They've interviewed players, seemingly looking for that juicy, critical quote about Chamberlain. However, Vernon Wells said he hardly noticed what Chamberlain had done and Frank Thomas had nothing but good things to say about the kid.

I was pleaseed that Thomas addressed the fact that the climate of MLB is changing as far as players showing emotions on the field. He's right about this being a different generation of professional athlete. Whether people like it or not, we're going to see more of this, and the sooner we all get used to it, the better.

So let the Joba Jacks continue, and yes, I know, let us accept Manny's Moments (if you will), too. *sigh*

The Lady

The Farewells Begin

Seeing a Major League game in person is always vastly different than staying at home and watching it on television. At least, to me it is. I would imagine that my friend Nancy feels the same way. As we watched the final Opening Day game at Yankee Stadium last night, we were both concerned about Chien-Ming Wang's lack of sharpness on the mound. His sinker didn't appear to be that great, he was helped out by spectacular catches made by Melky Cabrera, and he seemed to be in trouble in almost every inning.

I tried to stay up to watch the replay of the game last night on the YES Network and, before I fell asleep, I realized that Wang hadn't pitched that badly after all. He'd actually pitched very well. Also, this morning all of the articles about the game talked about Wang being solid in his Opening Day start, throwing seven strong innings for the win.

Yankee Stadium is filled with so many memories and so much emotion that you can't help getting caught up in it while you're there. As a Yankee fan, you get so close to the situations while you're there that you cannot see the bigger picture. Every bad play looks worse, every missed play seems like the end of the world. I'm sure it's like that for other fans at their own home ballparks, but it's magnified at 161st Street and River Avenue in the Bronx.

There are 80 games remaining in The Stadium, 80 more chances to get caught up in all those memories and all that emotion. I can't wait.

The Lady

Opening Day's Journey Into Night

I scored a ticket to the game, so I thought that I'd be blogging right now about the final Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. However, because of the rain-out it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Photo by reflaxion.

The Lady

Round & Round It Goes, & Where It Stops...

...is Carl Pavano? Perhaps. Because of the way the Yankee pitching rotation has been aligned, Pavano might end up being the starter on Opening Day.

In an article posted by Bryan Hoch on the Yankee site at MLB.com, Joe Torre said, "It's Opening Day, but there are 161 other games. It certainly is an important game, but so are the other ones." Yes, that's true, Joe, but will Pavano be around for all those other ones?

Pavano hasn't pitched in a Major League game since June 27, 2005. He's been rehabbing from various injuries, real or imagined, since that time. So far this Spring he's been injury-free.

This is could be just what Carl Pavano needs. If he pitches well, the media will undoubtedly proclaim Opening Day 2007 as "The Day Carl Pavano Became A Yankee," just as they did for Jason Giambi that rainy night a few years back when Giambi hit his walk-off homer against the Twins, getting the monkey off his back and finally turning Tino Martinez into a nice little memory. But, what if he doesn't pitch well? For his sake, I hope we don't find out the answer to that question.

The Lady