Joba's adjusting to starter role

Monday, June 9, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry

Before Joba Chamberlain made his first start, Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland asked him what time he would like to begin his pre-start routine of heading out toward the bullpen. "Six-thirty," Chamberlain responded.

First pitch was scheduled for 7:05. To begin a pre-start routine at 6:30 is like rising on Christmas morning at 3 a.m.

Chamberlain rushed through his warm-ups and rushed out of the dugout and rushed in his delivery. He struggled to throw strikes, and that initial start was over after seven outs. But on Sunday, in his second start, he was much better -- much more deliberate, more measured, more in control.  
 

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider
  • Buster Olney Buster Olney

    Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

    He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

    Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

    Follow Buster on Twitter: @Buster_ESPN

    Ask Buster a question: Buster's Mailbag

Links

Subscribe

RSS RSS Feed

Recent Updates

Archive

More