From the associated press:
Hall of Famer Goose Gossage has some issues with New York Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain’s expressive celebrations on the pitcher’s mound.
“There’s no place for it in the game,” Gossage told reporters Monday during a tour of the Hall of Fame, according to MLB.com. “I will stand by that and I love Joba Chamberlain. I’m with him down in spring training. He’s a great kid, but no one is passing the torch today. Nobody talks to them. When I broke into the big leagues, I didn’t say two words all year.”
Chamberlain’s antics again drew attention after he celebrated after striking out the Indians’ David Dellucci last Thursday. Two days earlier, Dellucci hit a game-winning pinch-hit home run off of Chamberlain.
Chamberlain gave an exaggerated fist pump and hollered after fanning Dellucci to end the inning.
“That’s who he is. He’s not showing anyone up. He’s going to show emotion,” Girardi said last Thursday. “He didn’t look at Dellucci. He looked into our dugout.”
That’s not exactly how Dellucci saw Chamberlain’s celebration.
“It is what it is. If he wants to yell and scream after a strikeout, I guess that’s what gets him going,” he said. “It’s May baseball. The home run was in a much bigger situation. I didn’t dance and scream.
“If a hitter did something like that, it would be bush. It’s kind of interesting how a pitcher gets away with it,” he said.
Said Chamberlain last Thursday: “It didn’t matter who it was, I just wanted to get them out.”
Chamberlain’s antics have fueled New York talk radio commentary. Now Gossage, who starred in the late innings for the Yankees from 1978 until 1983, is weighing in.
“I’m old school, I’m sorry,” Gossage told reporters, according to MLB.com. “I didn’t see [Dellucci] celebrating when he hit the home run.”
Gossage also told The Bergen Record that Chamberlain needs to remember what uniform he is wearing. According to Gossage, playing for the Yankees carries a different set of rules.
“That’s just not the Yankee way, what Joba did. Let everyone else do that stuff, but not a Yankee,” Gossage told The Record on Saturday. “What I don’t understand is, the kid’s got the greatest mentor in the world in Mariano [Rivera]. He’s one of the leaders of the team, so you’d think it wouldn’t happen on that team.
“But there’s no one to pass the torch anymore, no one to teach the young kids how to act. The Mets did a lot of that [celebrating] last year, and look how it came back to haunt them.”
Gossage told The Record he would never have been allowed to show emotion as Chamberlain does. His teammates would have made sure of that, Gossage said.
“I’m trying to think of what would’ve happened if I did what Joba did, especially if I was a rookie,” he told The Record. “The veterans would’ve sat me down so fast, it would’ve never happened a second time. Truthfully, there would’ve never been a first time.”
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Give me a break, Goose. You recently got voted into the Hall of Fame. Why are you so bitter?
This is who Joba is. It’s who he has been for a long time. He wore his emotions on his sleeve at Nebraska, and he’s wearing them on his entire uniform in New York. Funny how nobody said anything last year. Now, when one player makes a remark about his antics, everybody has something to say about it.
I love that phrase, “The Yankee Way.” Does the “Yankee Way” call for pitchers to ‘roid-up? How about using steroids as a means to hitting home runs, a la Jason Giambi? How about Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson brawling in the dugout? This morally upright way of conducting onseself is an illiusion of grandeur.
The “Yankee Way” is winning. Period.
Who is out of line here? Goose or Joba?
Goose has his diaper in a wad. The Yankees knew exactly what they we’re getting when they picked up Joba. It’s about damn time SOMEBODY in MLB shows any sort of emotion. I would think that would pump up the rest of the team if your pitcher is feeling good….
With all due respect for Joba. I kind of agree with Dellucci..
“It’s May baseball.” Should batters celebrate when they get a base hit or walk?
Act like you’ve been there before.
Save it for the post season.
Go Big Red
If nobody on the CURRENT Yankees team has any problem with it, then Joba should do whatever he wants. If somebody does have an issue with it, he can take it up with Joba himself. Why do past players like Goose have to share their opinions? They don’t count.
And batters do celebrate — they get to do that when they trot around the bases for a home run. They get to stand and gaze at their home runs from the batters box. Pitchers like Joba can actually seem pretty intimidating when they’re displaying their emotions.
I like the showing of emotion just as long as it is not done in a taunting fashion.
The game, the players, the fans, and sports in general have changed since Goose and the “Old School” players were there. They act, react, and show more emotion than athletes did years ago. Is that good or bad for the game? I don’t know. I think that is totally up to the individual watching. The players during Goose’s days were probably looked at with distaste by players from the earlier decades because they were thought of as “Hippies”. Goose probably thought they were just “old” and “square”.
Goose, if you want to change the way they are acting, put yourself in a position to do something about it. Become a coach, manager, get in the front office. If you’re not in that postion, deal with it.
“Why do past players like Goose have to share their opinions? They don’t count.” – mschick
Then why involve Jason Peters in your coverage of the Husker football team?
“They don’t count” meaning, “they don’t count as much as the current players’ opinions.”
Jason Peter will have opinions, but he’s not in the locker room, either.