Joba Rules aren’t just for Joba, anymore

August 21, 2009 by Mike Axisa 31 Comments

I’m sure you remember the Joba Rules from 2007. Heck, you probably still have the shirt. I know I do. Well, it turns out those fun little rules that prevented Joba from throwing on back-to-back days has managed to sink their teeth into another young and promising arm, this time infecting Neftali Felix of the Rangers. I thought Nolan Ryan was against all this pitch count stuff?

Dela G

a little hypocritical by the rangers concerning their “new approach” on everyone else
- http://bronxbaseballdaily.com Matt ACTY/BBD
  
  Eh, if I’m a Rangers fan, I’d take a little hypocrisy to protect Feliz’s arm.
http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

Marge: Nolan Ryan, are you giving up on your religion?
Nolan: NO! No, no, no, no, no. Well, yes.
- http://twitter.com/JamalG Jamal G.
  
  Nolan: I’m not gonna lie to you, Marge. *pause* See you later, honey.
  - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
    
    Heh.
  - http://phabfour.blogspot.com/ Double-J
    
    *pause* NOT black…
Tony

This isn’t hypocritical at all (no sarco).

He’s a starter, not a reliever. There’s nothing weird or contradictory about treating him a little differently, even when considering the org’s approach to their young starters.
Zack

So IF Nolan is actually in charge I wonder who had the guts to approach him to ask if they could restrict his usage, or Nolan Ryan has absolutely no say it what goes on and is just a face so they get credit with fans/media
- http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
  
  I believe the guy who went to Nolan to ask for permission to limit Feliz’s workload was Rangers Deputy Junior Assistant GM Robin Ventura.
  - http://phabfour.blogspot.com/ Double-J
    
    As in former NYY 3rd baseman Robin Ventura? Nifty.
  - http://bronxbaseballdaily.com Matt ACTY/BBD
    
    http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/ryan_ventura-thumb-462×373.jpg
    - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
      
      Ryan: Hey, Robin, get me a coffee, will ya?
      Ventura: I’m a little busy, here, Nolan, gimme a sec.
      Ryan: WHAT? YOU’RE MY BITCH, VENTURA, YOU GET ME A DAMN COFFEE WHEN I TELL YOU TO GET ME A COFFEE! YOU WANT ME TO KICK YOUR ASS AGAIN, BOY?
      Ventura: Sorry, sorry, sir. Coffee coming right up.
      Ryan: THAT’S RIGHT! EAST F$#&%ING COUNTY!!!!!
http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

The other “Neftali Rule”: No going to seedy, pathetic strip clubs that respectable pervs wouldn’t be caught dead in.

Only high-class strip clubs or none at all.
- jsbrendog
  
  pro athletes have a reputation to uphold.
  
  making it rain in a seedy, pathetic strip club is like buying everyone dinner at dennys or something
  - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
    
    Speaking of which, I hope Neftali chooses to make it rain in the Gold Club of Dallas.
    
    They’ve got a promotion combining my two favorite things in the world: Strippers and omelettes. Nothing makes a strip club complete like a nice breakfast sunny-side up.
    
    http://www.goldclubdallas.com/leggs.html (safe, surprisingly, but don’t navigate around to other pages on the site)
JSquared

Feliz is going more than one inning most of the time though… Which is what i would’ve liked to have seen from Hughes… Rarely do you see a guy throw 2 innings and pitch the next day, you will see it, but not a lot.
http://theyankeeuniverse.com Moshe Mandel

I think this highlights the misconceptions people have about Ryan’s plan. He never said that they were going to just send guys out to pitch under any conditions. Rather, he said the goal was to build stamina, and to determine each individual’s stopping point, rather than just having uniform restrictions on everybody.
- http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
  
  Great. Next thing, you’re going to tell me that there aren’t really Death Panels in the health care reform plan.
  
  Well, I’m not gonna fall for that shit, buddy.
Drew

They are totally babying Neftali.

/Ryan’d
Johan Iz My Brohan

I wonder what the Strasburg rules will be, I think it is fairly obvious that the Nationals are going to protect his arm like he was the President of the United States.
- Drew
  
  Well, he threw 97 innings last year and 109 innings this year. If he throws another 20ish innings before the end of the year, I guess he’ll be good for about 170 innings next year. Similar to Jober this year.
teixburnathia

wagner claimed of waivers by red sox?!?!?!?!
- http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
  
  Saw that. It’s unfortunate, but whaddya gonna do?
  
  Perhaps Omar can still screw this up somehow…
  - Observer283
    
    This could be a problem down the stretch and/or if both teams make the playoffs.
    
    Are Cash and Omar buddies? Maybe Cash can give him a call and tell him to just pull him back?
    
    I guess it would have been really stupid for the Sox to let Wagner clear. If Wagner became a Yank, they would be that much harder to catch in the short term and that much harder to beat should the teams meet in the playoffs.
    - Lanny
      
      What makes you think that Cashman would shell out 3 mill or a prospect for him?
      
      He has that invested in Marte.
      - Nigel Incubator-Jones
        
        You make me smile.
- Johan Iz My Brohan
  
  yep, I’m surprised that it was as close to the Yankees as it was. I would like them to take a flier at least. I thought the Cubs were the best match for him.
Tony

I would have NO problem with the Red Sox picking up Wagner. The man is gasoline incarnate in September and October.
- Zack
  
  Theo is trying to make the most unhittable best bullpen ever worse to give other teams a fair shot
- DF
  
  Wagner career, regular season and playoffs:
  
  Regular Season:
  819 IP, 555 hits, 1068 K’s, 270 BB’s, 2.40 ERA
  
  Postseason:
  10.1 IP, 18 hits, 11 K’s, 1 BB, 9.58 ERA
  
  You can discount his large body of work if you want on the basis of 10 innings, but I think that’s a big mistake. He likely would have been a useful member of the pen.
  - Tony
    
    Remember when the Mets got embarrassed in consecutive seasons for blowing division/series leads? Wagner was a HUGE part of that.