Moments after Aubrey Huff crossed the plate in the first inning of Sunday's 5-3 Yankees win, the announcers of the YES Network started wondering about when Joba Chamberlain would drill Huff in the ribs. Huff had pumped his fist in an exaggerated fashion twice during his home run trot, clearly mocking Chamberlain's habit of doing the same after strikeouts.
The game moved on from that point, although YES spent as much time hyping the next Huff at-bat as HBO spent hyping Ricky Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao. They even trotted out sideline (foul line?) reporter Kim Jones to fan the flames with reports of how the Orioles wondered if Chamberlain had injured his thumb pumping his fist. Finally the bottom of the third came and Huff strode to the plate which meant it was go time, right?
Actually the resulting at-bat was about as anti-climactic as the Hatton-Pacquiao fight. Huff walked, Joba pitched six innings and nothing else happened. Chamberlain insisted after the game that he hadn't seen Huff's fist pump, and Huff had a perfectly reasonable explanation for his fist pumpery.
"It was a three-run homer against the Yankees here at home," Huff said. "He does that stuff all the time as a pitcher, so I was just having a little fun with him out there. That's just part of the game. You get excited in situations like that. I wasn't showing anybody up. I was just having a good time."
Maybe he sings a different tune after an Orioles win, but, really, isn't five shutout innings a better way to quiet detractors than a fastball to the ribs?
Chamberlain always insists his fist pumps are just emotion and not directed at any particular player. If that's the case, he can't get upset when someone does it in return, plain and simple. It was funny to hear the YES announcers getting so Huff-y, because their previous discussions about Joba's fist have always been to chastise others for getting upset about it. If Joba throws at him, it makes him look like a horse's ass, not Huff, because it turns his whole act into everything he claims that it isn't.
They aren't a big deal, or shouldn't be a big deal anyway. Baseball prides itself on its litany of unwritten rules, most of which aren't written down because they're awfully stupid when you get right down to it. It would be better for everyone to worry about why Chamberlain can't get outs in the first inning.
Sports
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
