I know we’ve got a full slate of NFL action to devour, but that can wait while a pair of newspapers that own a percentage of the Red Sox engage in just a bit of Joba Chamberlain-nudging. From the New York Times’ Jack Curry :
Every time Joba Chamberlain (above) pitches for the Yankees, John Fitzpatrick, a Class A first baseman in the Pittsburgh Pirates™ organization, is reminded of his brief, brilliant history against him.
œHey, Fitzy, he still hasn™t given up a run, Fitzpatrick™s teammates on the State College (Pa.) Spikes tell him.
Of course, Fitzpatrick knows that. Last year in college, he did something that no major league hitter has been able to do this season. He hit a home run off Chamberlain.
When Fitzpatrick was playing for Manhattan College, he hit the second of two home runs on consecutive pitches against Chamberlain, then pitching for Nebraska. (Matt Rizzotti hit the first one.) The Jaspers shocked the Cornhuskers, 4-1, in that N.C.A.A. regional game 15 months ago.
œIt was a slider, and he left it up, Fitzpatrick said. œI hit it pretty good. I remember the wind was blowing, and I got it up in the air.
Fitzpatrick said that the Jaspers œthought we had a little something on Chamberlain, that he was possibly tipping his pitches. Rizzotti and Fitzpatrick each hit a slider for a home run. Fitzpatrick said that Chamberlain was more laid-back when he threw a slider and that the pitch he hit was œeerily similar to the one Rizzotti hit.