Defending the enemy

With both teams playing in later time zones (the Red Sox lead the Twins 6-5 in the 8th; the Phillies are tied with the Giants 1-1 in the 3rd), I'm not going to attempt to wait out either game.

So I'll chime in on the topic of the week out of New York: Joba Chamberlain's fist pump. I hate Joba, but primarily because he's a Yankee who's hard to hate. And I hate having to defend a member of the Empire (especially since I haven't seen the video footage), but living with Manny Ramirez, I can't pile on the pitcher.

Yes, it's bush league. Yes, I don't like it. And I wonder why it was necessary to do it in this spot. Yes, he got "revenge" for David Dellucci's pinch-hit homer earlier in the week, but when you're a stud reliever, you're supposed to get Dellucci out 8 of 10 times.

But a lot of players show similar emotions, so you just have to live with it. Unfortunately, grandstanding players like Joba and Manny just make you have to eat more crow when they don't pull through. But they're superstars for a reason, so they don't have to eat humble pie too often.

But some of the Yankees fans are comical. One caller to WFAN had the nerve to say Manny is showboating and disrespectful while Joba is just showing emotion. I wonder if Joba fist-pumped tonight. Oh yeah, he didn't pitch - the bad guys lost again. I wonder how the kid is going to react after getting an out in a big game, say a postseason victory.

[Photo credit: Getty Images]