Joba vs Huff

The hottest topic around the Baseball world from this weekend is the fist pumping of Aubrey Huff after his HR off Joba Chamberlain. Joba has a history of pumping his fist after a big strikeout, or lately any strikeout, and this action seems to offend a lot of people. Apparently Aubrey Huff was one of those people, because after hitting a first inning HR off Joba, Huff rounded first looked directly at Joba and pumped his first. Huff did the same as he touched home plate as well.


******MLB MUST HAVE REMOVED THE VIDEO FROM THE SITE THAT WAS HOSTING IT AND IT IS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND BESIDES MLB....OF COURSE THEY HAVE TO HAVE THEIR HANDS ON EVERYTHING. IF YOU WANT TO WATCH IT GO HERE.. http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=4501049&c_id=mlb ******

I want to start off by saying I have absolutely no problem when Joba does his fist pump. The bottom line is he is a kid who gets excited and shows his emotion. It is not like Joba is pointing directly at the guy he just struck out and telling him to sit the $@!& down. This idea around Major League Baseball that you cannot show any emotion on the field because you are showing up the other team or player is absurd. These guys all get paid a lot of money to play Baseball, so if they cannot take a little celebration from a player who just beat them then they can go work a 9-5.

Obliviously what Joba does got to Aubrey Huff a little bit because he went out of his way to celebrate and imitate Chamberlain. Huff's had this to say about the incident:

"He's done it a couple of times to me when he's struck me out," For me, it's just in good fun. I always told the guys that if I get him, I'm going to give him a nice fist pump. For me, it wasn't really showing anybody up. I was just trying to have some fun with it. He does it all the time and I figured, 'You know what, why not?'"

I say good for Huff. He is doing what he is supposed to when playing a game..having fun. Of course there was a little "FU" to Joba in Huff's actions, but that is what sports are about. Joba commented that he did not see Huff do it and also said:

"This won't be the last time I face him. He did what he was supposed to do with the pitch -- he hit a home run. If he wants to do a back flip, he can do a back flip. It really doesn't bother me."

I really hope Joba is not implying that he is going to hit Huff. If he hits him or even throws inside, Aubrey has the right to charge the mound with the bat and hit Joba in the head. Joba's best response would be a strikeout of Huff and a nice fist pump. I hope Joba continues not to hide his emotion and celebrates when its time to celebrate.