Passionate people stir up passion in others. Once again, Passionate people stir up passion in others. There is no denying it. For example, Joba Chamberlain. The former Yankee, Tiger and now Toronto Blue Jay (by way of the Buffalo Bison) is a Passionate person. Joba wears his heart on his sleeve. He always has, and I hope he always will. The fiery right-hander doesn’t do anything half way. Whether it is throwing the baseball, being a dad to his son Karter or growing his now infamous beard, Chamberlain goes all in. It is lousy to see him on the outside looking in on the game again. He exercised his opt out clause with the Blue Jays.
Yankee fans see Joba one way or the other. There are those of us who truly like the guy. We believe that he had the potential to do great things in the Bronx, but the Yankees, the culture of coddling young pitchers and Joba himself got in the way. There are others that are happy that the big kid from Nebraska is gone. They believed the nonsense drummed up by the likes of Jon Heyman about Joba dishonoring the Great Mariano Rivera.
They watched him slide down the list on names to call in the pen and booed him as he fell. Why? It’s Because Passionate people stir up passion in others. If Chamberlain didn’t throw at Kevin Youkillis, if he’d merely strolled off the mound after a big strikeout without a peep, if he didn’t say things like, “I’d prefer to start.” Would fans care much either way? I don’t think they would. When Joba was allowed to be Joba he was truly a force of nature. He didn’t over think he just threw hard. And when he did we ALL stood up and cheered.
I hope Justin finds another team and soon. I’d love to see him and his reps reach out to the Yankees, sign a minor league deal and work his way back up. He could do it. I’m telling you there is a redemption story in Chamberlain. He was our guy once upon a time…he could be our guy again.
Either way I wish Joba the best. We all do here at BYB. I’ve known him for a while now, and he is really one of the good guys…good guys deserve a break.
Keep your head up, Joba. One more round!
** His arm was made strong by the hand of the Almighty…to paraphrase Mr. Marley.**
--Mike O'Hara Senior "Features" Writer
Twitter: @mikeyoh21
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