Joba Chamberlain Is the New Yankee to Despise

I already didn't like Joba Chamberlain. Now, I can't stand the guy.

After he'd already - inexcusably - thrown the ball repeatedly at Kevin Youkilis in the past, (four times in 07 & 08), tonight, in the 5th inning, Chamberlain threw the ball directly at Jason Bay, hitting him in the back. And, it sure as hell looked intentional. Jason Bay had hit a home run off Chamberlain earlier AND Chamberlain hit him after a long stretch of being in total command of his pitches and mowing down one Sox player after another with terrific control. (He had struck out nine Red Sox since from the 2nd through until he hit Bay).

Dennis Eckersley, substituting for Jerry Remy as commentator, immediately voiced his strong opinion that Chamberlain hit Bay intentionally. Eckersley repeated this for emphasis, and, said he didn't like it. Well, if Eck is that convinced, so am I -- and, I'm sure, the Red Sox are too.

So, the question is: Who the hell does Chamberlain think he is? He's a fantastic pitcher with terrific stuff - and he showed it again tonight. So, why the hell does he have to throw the ball at hitters like this? He's got to be held responsible.

I'm not advocating Red Sox pitchers retaliate. I don't like that whole part of baseball, but, what about Major League Baseball keeping an eye on Chamberlain and taking action against him the next time it looks so incredibly obvious. He can't be allowed to get away with this.

It appears David Ortiz was completely on target when he said recently that Chamberlain had to show players he deserved their respect and that throwing at players was not something people should associate with his game.

It seems predictable that, at some point, some Red Sox pitcher will hit some Yankee batter in retaliation for Chamberlain's move tonight, but, who knows? I thought Beckett would do it tonight, but, he left the game before Hideki Okajima came in and retired six Yankees in a row.

I'll take the win, but, I hope Chamberlain gets the message that he's out of line. He's way too cocky for his own good now. He needs to grow up.