Hey Big Papi...SHUT UP!

For years Yankees fans saw Pedro Martinez and the Red Sox continually plunk Derek Jeter and others on numerous occasions with little to no retaliation. And for years Yankees fans thirsted for someone to step up to Red Sox hitters (mainly Ortiz and Ramirez) and pitch them inside. Yankees fans wanted to see their pitchers come inside not to target Red Sox hitters, but to back them off of the plate and establish the inside corner.

We finally have the pitcher we so deeply yearned for. Joba Chamberlain has come inside on Red Sox hitters regularly the past couple of seasons. And he has enjoyed great success against them because of it. Most notably, he out-dueled Josh Beckett in a 1-0 Yankee win in Fenway Park just last season. Chamberlain is well within his rights to throw inside. Although, it may seem that he has a strange fetish when it comes to seeing Kevin Youkilis hit the deck, Chamberlain has done nothing wrong.

That brings us to “Big Papi”, David Oritz. Ortiz was quoted in the New York Post talking about how Chamberlain should not continue to throw inside and particularly not throw inside on Kevin Youkilis. Here are the direct quotes:

“None of that, man--just play the game the way it’s supposed to be, and that’s about it.”

“This is a guy, as good as he is, and the next step for him will be to earn respect from everybody in the league. He’s not a bad guy, but when things like that happen, people get the wrong idea.”

Here is my issue with what Ortiz had to say. First, he plays on the same club with a guy who just last week tried to decapitate Bobby Abreu. Ortiz should look around in his own locker room before commenting on Chamberlain. Chamberlain never fired a ball at a batter's head, after the batter stepped out of the batter's box.

Second, as far as I can tell, Chamberlain is playing the game the way it’s meant to be played. While he did throw inside or behind Youkilis on numerous occasions, he never hit him. He has played the game the same way that winner’s such as Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale, and Tom Seaver played the game. As a power pitcher he must own the inside part of the plate and if he has to back hitters off a bit, he is well within his rights.

Thirdly, Ortiz couldn't be more off on the "respect" thing. Chamberlain shouldn’t be concerned with earning the respect of everyone in the league. His main concern is to win games for the New York Yankees. If he has to come inside, that is his right. The last thing he should think about when pitching is, “What if Youkilis doesn’t like me?”

Lastly, Ortiz needs to worry about himself, and his .220 batting average. This guy clearly has not been himself since Manny left. Whether, that is attributable to Manny leaving, being older, being fatter, whatever the case, Ortiz should shut his yap, and worry about his own game.

It could be that Big Papi is trying to gain a psychological edge over Chamberlain. If that is the case, it just shows that Ortiz the Red Sox don’t feel comfortable stepping in against Joba. If I were Joba, I would buzz Ortiz the first time he comes to bat (just knock him down, not to hit him) and give him a little wink afterwards, as to say “You are not telling me what to do.” “You are not my Papi.”

-Favad Ali