Hank Steinbrenner Wants Media Attention for Joba, Except For When Joba Is Actually Pitching

Alright, so Joba Chamberlain’s first start was not great (or, you could say, was on par with the rest of the Yankees young starting pitchers). He was only able to make it through 2 1/3 with his 65-pitch limit. He allowed one earned run, walked four, K’d three and threw 52% strikes. Disappointing? I guess. But what did you expect from a 22 year-old making his first ever start in the most hype-filled environment imaginable? Given the situation, his performance wasn’t that bad.

Naturally, Hank Steinbrenner had some thoughts on the situation, as he should seeing as he’s the only reason Joba was thrown into the fire without any minor league starts in the first place. After the game, Hank had this to say:

"Tonight was a creation of the media. If this had been a first start for any other pitcher on any other team, it wouldn't have been such a big deal."

Yeah, Hank, you genius, that would normally be true – if this was any other city, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But, let’s take a trip in the wayback machine to over a month ago. I believe it was Hank who created this media crapstorm over Joba starting:

"I want him as a starter and so does everyone else, including him, and that is what we are working toward and we need him there now," Steinbrenner told The New York Times. "There is no question about it, you don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a set-up guy. You just don't do that. You have to be an idiot to do that."

Ah, yes, that’s the quote I was looking for. Yep, the media just made a big deal out of Joba’s start for no reason. It clearly had nothing to do with Hank’s verbal diarrhea.

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