Joba rules on 22nd birthday for Yankees
Chamberlain earns first save as NY moves within 1 1/2 games of Boston
 Kathy Willens / AP Jorge Posada, left, and Jose Molina congratulate reliever Joba Chamberlain, right after Chamberlain earned his first save in the Yankees’ 7-5 victory over the Blue Jays on Sunday. |
 | Video: Baseball from NBC Sports |
 Nats name Riggleman Jim Riggleman was officially introduced as the manager of the Washington Nationals. |
NEW YORK - Joba Rules were made to be broken.
Toronto was threatening in the eighth inning, pulling within two runs and putting two men on. Even though Yankees manager Joe Torre had said Joba Chamberlain was unavailable, the sellout crowd of 54,983 started chanting “We Want Joba!”
Chamberlain jogged in from the bullpen on his 22nd birthday, threw five nasty sliders to strike out Adam Lind, then followed with a perfect ninth inning. With his first major league save, the rookie sensation preserved New York’s 7-5 victory over the Blue Jays and Mike Mussina’s 250th big league win.
Harlan Chamberlain, the reliever’s polio-stricken father, watched from his motorized scooter and remembered back to his newborn son’s bassinet at Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center in Lincoln, Neb.
“Twenty-two years ago today, I put a glove with a Velcro ball in the palm of the glove,” he said. “If that glove could have spelled out the future and said 22 years from today, you’ll be in Yankee Stadium, I would have thought that was the furthest thing that could ever happen,” he said.
New York, close to clinching its 13th consecutive playoff appearance, pulled within 1½ games of AL East-leading Boston with a week remaining in the regular season. The Yankees overcame a 3-0 deficit and reached 90 wins for the seventh straight year, the third-longest streak in major league history behind the 1947-58 Yankees and 1904-12 Chicago Cubs, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Mussina (11-10) won his third straight start since rejoining the rotation; backup catcher Jose Molina had three hits, three RBIs, a key tag play and a big pickoff; and Melky Cabrera threw out a runner at the plate for the second straight day, raising his assists total for the season to 16 — including a major league-leading 14 as a center fielder.
But the electricity was provided by Chamberlain, who has allowed one earned run in 16 appearances since coming up from the minors in early August.
With a 100 mph fastball and a 92 mph slider that drops at the plate like an Olympic diver, he’s been unhittable most days. The Yankees have babied him — the Joba Rules stated he could only enter at the start of innings, he could warm up only once and that he would get at least one day off for every inning he threw. It was as if New York had an elixir it didn’t want to dispense too frequently.
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So rather than bring in Mariano Rivera for the third straight day, Torre got permission to break the Joba Rules — or rather, set new ones. Starting now, depending on pitch count, Chamberlain can be used in back-to-back games.
“It was great to get that opportunity and to show that I can come back,” Chamberlain said. “It’s doing me good for situations to where we maybe need to give Mariano a break.”
Under Torre, the Yankees have burned out relievers such as Jeff Nelson, Tanyon Sturtze and Scott Proctor. Chamberlain was a starter in the minors, and the Yankees project he’ll be a starter next year.
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Hence, the restrictions — which have become so well known in New York that “Joba Rules” T-shirts are on sale.
“We’re on the move with this thing. A lot of it is going to be judged on pitch count, and the days off will vary,” Torre said. “He just keeps his wits about him. I told him when I shook his hand at the end, I said, ‘You grew a little bit more today.”’
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