Joba Chamberlain’s life story has been well chronicled since his debut in the majors last year, a story that was intensified by the media thanks to his amazing performance. Born Joba Heath turned Joba Chamberlain, he has become one of the most popular players in baseball. But, Joba’s mother has stepped up recently and talked to the Journal Star in Nebraska (Joba’s mother talks about her son and her life). She has revealed that she was a big part of Joba’s life and the stories of Joba’s father raising Joba alone are not entirely true. But, the story is still entirely sad.

For those who don’t know the story, Joba was raised by his father alone after separating with Joba’s mother (apparently). Chamberlain’s father Harlan raised Joba in poor conditions against tall odds and helped his son become one of the most feared pitchers in baseball. Harlan, who has Polio along with other health problems, has been seen in Yankee Stadium cheering his son on with as much enthusiasm as Joba shows on the field which garnered more fan interest in Joba. It’s the story baseball fans love, overcoming adversity and becoming the best, but the story isn’t as it seems.

In the article, Joba’s mother talks about her son and her life by Colleen Kenney, Joba’s mother, Jackie Standley, says that she had much more contact with her now estranged kids as was reported. She said that Joba lived with her most of the time until he was about ten years old and when Joba was with his father he was only a mile away. Jackie said that she did take advantage of Harlan, waiting for him to come home from work so that she could dump the kids off on him and go to bars. She also, later in Joba’s life, picked up a crystal meth addiction.

A point in this story where things began to really turn around was when Joba was 10. For father’s day, Standley changed Joba’s last name(originally Heath, Standley’s maiden name) to Chamberlain, Harlan’s last name. It’s said that it is from then when Joba began staying with Harlan and Harlan began to take total control, which in hindsight was conducive to Joba’s success.

Me and my son have had a good relationship. We lived within a mile of each other for his whole life. … Once I gave him his last name, it’s like he took total power. It was like, he starts staying there more. I got to the point where I was not going to fight with him over it. Joba was getting to school, getting good grades. He was doing sports, which is what he wanted.I don’t know why Harlan is doing all this. I’ve called, tried to ask him, and he don’t want to speak to me, which is weird, because Harlan raised me.

Jackie Standley on Raising Joba Chamberlain

It seems like there isn’t much animosity in this story, just sadness. No matter what’s true, or who says what, what Joba Chamberlain has overcome is a testament to his character and he, not his mother or his father, should be getting the attention. A truly inspirational baseball tale.

Give me your keys Torii

The leader of the outlandish celebration was of course, Torii Hunter. With champagne bottles bursting throughout the Angels dugout Hunter put on goggles and pretended to be Michael Phelps. Yeah, that’s right you heard me, he pretended to be Michael Phelps. He then created a dance called “the fish” that he dedicated to Michael Phelps. He then had this to say…

People would think this gets old — but it never does, I’ve been in some celebrations in Minnesota, and this one ranks right up there with any of them.We’ve got a 17-game lead or whatever, why celebrate like this? Because we’ve worked hard for it. Everybody’s swimming, dancing, going crazy. And it’s lasting a long time. These guys are awesome. They don’t want to go home.

Torii Hunter on Celebrating the Angels AL West Title

How about not celebrating like an idiot though. Doesn’t he realize that there are kids watching this fool swim through puddles of alcohol and beer cans? Have a little respect man.

MLB: Last Call!!

I think it’s time for the MLB to step in on this matter. How about using non-alcoholic beverages and showing that you are in fact role models and you do have people looking up to you. Listen, afterwards they can party and drink all they want, I don’t care, but when you’re being seen by millions of people and more importantly, kids at least pretend like you have some responsibility.

So, MLB please make the politically correct move and do something about this. If you’re not going to make them celebrate with only non-alcoholic beverages at least make a statement addressing the situation and the league’s views on alcoholic consumption in excess.

Manny’s love affair with the Boston Red Sox which rewarded both with two championship rings and ended the horrid curse of the Bambino, came to an abrupt end in the middle of this season. The love was gone. And soon enough Manny was gone. The Manny saga became as soap operish(that’s right soap operish) as Favre’s retirement. The two sides bickered back and forth, dissing eachother through the media. I did not agree with the Red Sox getting rid of Manny, because he’s such a great hitter that you can deal with his drama. But, the Red Sox could not. So now he’s a Dodger.

Does Manny want to be a Dodger? Of course not. He doesn’t want to be in the National League where the best pitchers in the world are. He doesn’t want to be in the least talented division in major league baseball in the NL West. He wants to be in the American League where the balls fly out of ballparks. He wants to be in the American League where he can get back at the Red Sox. And, maybe, just maybe, he wants to be the face of a new stadium. A new Yankee Stadium.

If you don’t believe me look at this coming from the New York Post…

According to people who have spoken to the eccentric outfielder since he was dealt to L.A. on July 31, Ramirez wants to sign a free-agent deal with the Yankees this offseason and get 19 chances a year to punish Boston.

George A. King III, New York Post

Ramirez becomes a free agent at the end of this year’s World Series. Brian Cashman may be in risk of losing his job by then because with the way the Yankees are playing right now, the Yankees won’t be the ones in this year’s World Series. Now, what’s the one desparate move that could save both he and the Yankees which will bring enormous crowds to the new Yankee Stadium? Putting one of the Yankees arch rivals in pinstripes and pitting him against his former team. You can’t make this stuff up…well I just did so I guess you can, but it would be awesome, right?

Sportsgist.com gets to talk with Tampa Bay Ray pitcher Chris Mason down in Durham, North Carolina the day after his start. Just in case you forgot, Chris is in Durham pitching for the Durham Bulls, the AAA affiliate of the Rays. Our objective was to hang out with Chris and learn exactly what a pitcher does both on the days he pitches and on the days that he does not pitch.

PITCHER’S FIELDING PRACTICE:

In this video, Chris is going through the monotonous routine of pitcher’s fielding practice.  All pitcher’s hate PFP (the baseball term for pitcher’s fielding practice), but they understand that repetition will only help them when they need to make a play.  Making the play could be the difference in winning the game or losing the game.  After PFPs, Chris gets to run around the outfield and shag some BP.  All pitchers’ think they’re Andrew Jones, but running down fly balls actually helps them in their recovery.  After BP, Chris runs a bit to get the blood circulating through the body and then it’s off to the showers.  He watches the game from the stands where he charts every pitch for his time and one inning from the opposing team.  He charts what pitch was thrown, the location, and speed of the pitches.  The life of a pitcher…gotta love it!!!

Chris Mason is one of the top pitching prospects in the Tampa Bay Rays farm system.  It has been quite some journey for him as he gets closer to reaching his ultimate dream: making it to the big leagues!  He has coasted through the minors…dominating at every level he pitched at.  Chris began his first full season of minor league baseball in Visalia, CA.  He finished the season with a 12-10 record, which was very good considering it was his first full season of professional baseball.  The next year was Chris’ coming out party.  He pitched at the Double A level in Montgomery, AL and was voted the Southern League pitcher of the year and Co-MVP of the league.  He was 15-4 with a 2.57 ERA and 136 strikeouts. 

Chris is currently pitching in Triple A for the Durham Bulls.  Chris takes us through his gameday routine…from start to finish.  He tells us about when he wakes up, why he shaves his arms, and what happened during the game.  The video gives you a good idea about who Chris Mason is and how he prepares for his starts.  The video also shows what a great minor league baseball town Durham is. 

After joining the elite 600 home run club last week, it looks as if Ken Griffey Jr. may be headed to the Tampa Bay Rays. A report says that Griffey Jr. will consider waiving his no trade clause to join the surprising Rays. The Reds are 12.5 games back in the central division in last place and Griffey is still searching for a ring. Whether he’ll find it with the Rays is another question.

Why would Griffey join the Rays? I’m not too sure. If he’s looking for a ring I don’t understand why he would go to a franchise who hasn’t even made it to the playoffs yet. The only thing I can take from this is that he either see something more in the Rays or that he’s just looking to end his career in beautiful Tampa Bay.

Hearing this news both confused me and excited me. Watching Ken Griffey Jr. on the Seattle Mariners was so exciting and this could mean that he could actually end up on a team who actually have some sort of up side. Since his arrival in 2000 to Cincinnati, he has found nothing but injuries and no playoff appearances. Seeing him play on a team with something to play for will definetely ignite his play and garner more interest in one of the best home run hitters of all time. But again, why Tampa Bay? Maybe, just maybe, the Rays are actually going to take advantage of a solid core of players, hold on to them, and continue to build around them to establish a winning franchise. We may finally see a playoff team in Tampa Bay.

So, will the Rays trade for Griffey? I don’t see it happening. Knowing that Griffey is now on the market you will now start seeing the bigger teams begin to get into the Griffey sweepstakes. You know Steinbrenner and the Yankees are salivating at the thought of Ken Griffey Jr. on the open market, and don’t be surprised to see a team like the Chicago Cubs try and snag Griffey. The Cubs acquisition of Jim Edmonds has not been going as planned and Griffey could easily step into his role. Overall I just fear the weaker Rays will be eaten up by the bigger sharks in the water and buy out Griffey. But who knows maybe Griffey will end up a Tampa Bay Ray for the rest of his career.

With this being the second hit not correctly called a home run in the past week at Yankee Stadium, the instant replay topic in baseball heats up. On Sunday, Carlos Delgado’s home run was called foul by the umpires on the field, but after second look through instant replay it was clear that it hit the foul poll and was a home run. After seeing the replay of Carlos Delgado’s disputed foul ball, home plate umpire, Bob Davidson admitted that it really was a home run.

I ****ed it up. I’m the one who thought it was a **** foul ball. I saw it on the replay. I’m the one who ****ed it up so you can put that in your paper, bolts and nuts, I ****ed up. You’ve just got to move on. No one feels worse about it than I do.

Bob Davidson

With umpires admitting they were wrong after seeing instant replay, MLB officials have gotten the ball rolling on instant replay. They said they will begin using instant replay in the Arizona Fall League. If successful and deemed useful, instant replay will then be used in the World Baseball Classic. If all goes well we could be seeing instant replay used on homerun calls and foul balls as soon as the 2009 season.

This move by the MLB to start using instant replay brings a lot of debate between whether it will be good or bad for the game. The positives of instant replay in the MLB are numerous. There have been so many mistakes by umpires in MLB history that easily could have been corrected if instant replay was there. Look at the 1996 divisional series between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees. A young boy, Jeffrey Maier, reached over and brought Derek Jeter’s flair over the wall for a home run. One simple look at a video tape would show that the call should be fan interference, not a home run.

People who say that instant replay would ruin the game, and slow it down are simply wrong. Football, Hockey, and Basketball all have forms of instant replay and neither sport has been ruined due to instant replay. If anything it has made each sport better and more accurate. Why wouldn’t you want instant replay in baseball? I don’t understand why one wouldn’t. It makes no sense. Some people say instant replay would slow down baseball. Listen, it’s slow enough, another five minutes isn’t going to hurt. Plus, if you’re going to sit and watch a game for three hours, wouldn’t you be fine with watching a correctly called game for three hours and five minutes. I know I would.

Listen, we have the technology now to make sure that every call is correct on the field. Why not use it? Every other sport is using it and it has proven to make each sport better. For a majority of these calls you can see the right call after one look at an instant replay. Please Major League Baseball, bring instant replay to the game I love.

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It’s begun. Baseball’s greatest rivalry. First came the buried jersey. One construction worker/fan’s attempt to reverse the Babe’s curse by burying a David Ortiz jersey beneath the new Yankee Stadium. The excavated David Ortiz... Read more

The problem with that argument, of course, is that Johnson like all players are taught to play hard each and every out, Spring, Summer or Fall. As Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon put it: “We try to play the game the same way on March 8 as we do on June 8.” So the question always is what is playing hard and what is playing dirty. What is the right way to play baseball?

Yesterday things turned a whole lot worse for both teams. Shelley Duncan – who by the way was one of the loudest complainers on the Yankees – went into second base spikes high. You can take a look at a freeze frame to see where his left leg and spikes were in relation to Tampa Bay second baseman Akinori Iwamura.

One brawl and a day later there’s no surprise that the Yankees and Rays see the same play with completely different eyes. “I saw it a couple times,” Duncan revealed. “I still don’t understand why they were as upset as they were.” Duncan explained further: “The ball beat me by quite a bit, and when you’re out by a mile, there are only two things to do: try a weird slide around the base or to slide hard into his glove … I slid hard into his glove.”

Maybe I’m missing something here but his spikes are a heck of a lot closer to Iwamura’s groin than they are to his glove.

According to Joe Maddon, “What you saw today is a definition of a dirty play.” Maddon continued: “There’s no room for that in our game. It’s contemptible. It’s wrong. It’s borderline criminal. I can’t believe they did that. That was a blatant attempt to hurt Aki. And it was set up, it was planned, it was premeditated; it was all of the above. I don’t know what the difference is between that and a high stick in hockey. It was that bad.”

It’s always hard to know what an athlete’s thinking in the midst of action but it doesn’t help Duncan’s case to go back a few days and read his take on the Johnson-Cervelli incident: “They showed what is acceptable to them and how they’re going to play the game, so we’re going to go out there to match their intensity – or even exceed it.”

There’s not much doubt that on Wednesday March 12, Duncan exceeded it. Let’s hope that come the real season the Yankees can make baseball, not war. It’s our National Pastime after all – and we’re 5 years into a real war. Enough blood, it’s time for baseball.