Much was made on yesterday’s YES broadcast of Aubrey Huff’s fist pumping gesture after he hit his 3 run HR in the first inning. It wasn’t malicious or mocking according to Huff, he was just being a bit of a goofball. He explains:
“It was a three-run homer against the Yankees here at home. 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.
“It doesn’t offend. Some guys get a little crazy out there. If it gets them going, it gets them going. I was just having a little fun with it as well.
“It’s OK if pitchers do it. If batters do it, it’s kind of stupid. Everybody kind of frowns on it. So I wanted to have fun with it.
“I’m kind of a jokester guy. I enjoy messing around and stuff like that. It wasn’t a shot at him, I was just having fun with it. He can do what he wants out there.”
Joba didn’t seem all that bothered by it at all. He said after yesterday’s game:
Chamberlain said he didn’t see Huff’s fist pumps, but even if he had, he insisted they wouldn’t have bothered him.
“I have no reason to be upset,” Chamberlain said. “He did what he was supposed to do with the pitch and hit a home run. If he wants to do a back flip, he can do a back flip.”
“Good for him,” he said. “He’s paid to hit home runs.”
The NY tabloids are already running with this, referring to the move as “mocking” Joba, and I’m sure Francesa and Kay will get 10 hours of radio out of Huff’s move this afternoon. But upon further investigation it appears to be much ado about nothing.
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TIQ IQ
Francessca will use this as his latest attempt to move Joba back to the pen.
I can see it now.
Probably right Troy, he’ll say hitters aren’t afraid of Joba and feel its now safe to mock him. Yet if he were in the pen they would fear his aura….
Honestly he was kind of showing Joba up, I mean he was basically mocking Joba by doing it twice, but if Joba doesn’t care then lets just move on.
Joba’s comments are perfect. Of course, if I were Huff I would be a little concerned making fun of a guy that is paid to throw a hard object near me at a 100mph.
Maybe someone could explain how something Aubrey Huff has never done before, that was done specifically in response to what Joba does – is NOT mocking him.
He WAS mocking Joba. That isn’t even in question.
Totally agree. I’m going to have a post up this afternoon coming at this from the other side, so stay tuned.
I agree as well. Huff is full of crap. He planned this and that shows a total lack of class. He deserves whatever retribution he gets and it needs to be continual, every time they play, not just once. Any time the game situation allows it, someone needs to come up and in on him.
Agreed. Also, he said that the Orioles saw Joba earlier in the week fist pumping against the Red Sox on NESPN. Of course, NESPN made it out to be the end of the world and didn’t say anything about Papelbon last night. God, I hate NESPN.
Are any of you guys familiar with Huff’s personality? He’s known to be a goofball and a bit of a practical jokester.
I know when we view these things through Yankee colored glasses, there’s no other way to take this other than as an affront. But believe it or not, there’s another side to the story.
Except that in the same sentence that he said he was just having fun, he references Joba doing this all the time and doing it to him specifically. You cant separate that fact out, which means that on some level, it was a direct mocking of what Joba does.
‘Mocking’ is still too harsh a word, but I think it’s pretty clear that there wasn’t any nastiness or ill will behind it. I bet the O’s clubhouse burst out in laughter watching him (esp him, being the clubhouse jokester) do that at that moment. In which case, he was just having a little fun at Joba’s expense. I’m glad Joba doesn’t take himself as seriously as everyone else seems to.
Where is Sal “The Barber” Maglie when he is needed?
I do believe, he was trying to show Joba up but, I also like the way Joba has handled it. No big deal, let it go! After 2nd thoughts, Huff also tried to white wash it, ok with me.
Only one thing counts, winning…how you do it doesn’t matter (no cheating in sports please). If one has a fist pump after a HR or strike-out so be it…if that is who they are. But to do it because one wants to get back at someone, is dumb…it makes you look bad.