Reacting emotionally to Joba’s injury

By On June 10, 2011 · 4 Comments · In General Musings

Sigh.

I’m a very big fan. I have been since my Internet buddy alerted me to Joba’s dismantling of the Hawaiian Winter League in 2006. After that, I–like all of you–followed his 2007 intently. I was elated when he got called up. I was thrilled when he dominated. I was flying high when he was killing it as a starter in 2008. I stuck with him when he scuffled as a starter in 2009. I wanted him to start again in 2010 and this year as well.

The bottom line is that I’m incredibly saddened by Joba’s injury that will keep him out for the rest of the year and that may require Tommy John Surgery. While I followed a bit, Joba is really the first guy I tracked closely to the Majors. He was always one of my favorite players on the staff and I bought his t-shirt jersey as soon as I could. This sucks.

From the detached perspective, the analyst in me if you will, this isn’t a huge loss. He’s a reliever who can be replaced and I have full faith in to do the eighth inning thing just fine. From the perspective of the fan in me, the guy who will always root for Joba, the guy who always thinks it’s not too late to try him as a starter again, this is a blow.

There are questions running through my mind. Would this have happened if he was starting? Will they rebuild him as a starter? What will Joba be like when he comes back? The one question that will be asked that I don’t want people to ask is how did the “Joba Rules” play into this. It has nothing to do with the Joba Rules and has everything to do with the fact that, sometimes, a lot of times, pitchers just get hurt. As frustrating as you could be, Joba, with the inconsistent velocity and the constant 3-2 sliders, I will miss you a lot. Get better soon, dude.

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4 Responses to Reacting emotionally to Joba’s injury

  1. Eric Schultz says:
    June 10, 2011 at 11:24 am

    “There are questions running through my mind. Would this have happened if he was starting? Will they rebuild him as a starter? What will Joba be like when he comes back?”

    Stay tuned and find out at 5:00

    Reply
  2. Professor Longnose says:
    June 10, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    Not that I know anything about it, but it doesn’t strike me that limiting a guy’s inning would cause injury. If it can, baseball in general is really screwed.

    I’m starting to think that every pitcher should just have TJ surgery on his 18th birthday. It would make everyone’s arm stronger and limit inings in a key 2-year stretch.

    Reply

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