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New York Yankees' Joba Chamberlain delivers a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays in his first start as a Yankee. AP Photo/Ray Stubblebine, Pool

Rough Night for Joba, Fans in Winnebago

By Patrick L. Delabrue

WINNEBAGO, Neb.—Not much interest was shown in Joba Chamberlain's debut as a New York Yankees starting pitcher in his hometown here Tuesday night.

Locals were cutting grass, working on cars parked in their front yards, shopping at the local Dollar Mart and going about life as usual—but no Yankees game on free television.

Chamberlain's aunt, a reserved woman with a Yankees baseball license plate emblem on her red Pontiac, didn't want to speak to any media types.

"I don't talk to reporters," she said at her home. "I'm sorry. The game's starting in a couple of minutes anyway. I'm sorry."

The community center was empty, and students at the local community college said they knew he was pitching but that they didn't plan on watching the home game against Toronto.

Outside the Winnebago Police Department, a local who declined to give his name sat on a bench drinking his warm, flat bottle of Coca-Cola and watching the far-from-bustling traffic.

"Go check up at the Bonanza Bar in Homer," he said with a toothless grin. "They have a big-screen TV. I'd go up there myself, but I quit drinking."

Chamberlain, a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, was making his major league debut as a starter after coming out of the bullpen last season and early this season.

Chamberlain was drafted 41st by the Yankees in 2006 and performed well in the bullpen last year with an earned run average of 0.38 in 19 appearances.

In 20 bullpen appearances this year, Chamberlain had a 2.28 ERA and was touted by Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner as a pitcher of starting caliber.

Seven miles up Highway 77 in the town of Homer, Tom Gabel, owner of the Bonanza Bar, was feverishly scrolling through the TV menu with his remote control trying to find the game. "I have Dish Network, and I can't even get the damn thing. We did everything we could, but we couldn't get 'er on."

Instead, patrons finished their drinks and left. The ones who stayed had to settle for watching the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals while Chamberlain's aunt was equipped with a satellite dish and MLB.com, a pay-per-view network.

The patrons were more interested in idle chitchat, domestic beer and the start of the bar's summer volleyball league.

Gabel and his wife, Brenda, have owned the Bonanza Bar for two years, and Brenda said she has known the Chamberlain family her entire life. "They're fond of the food, they like our chicken, so they'll stop in and eat and want the game on."

Despite disappointment in Homer with missing the game, the locals remained supportive of Chamberlain.

Brenda said she and her husband had been answering the phone all day as people asked if they would have the game on.

"But no such luck," she said. "We would've definitely had more people here, his family and friends. A lot of locals follow him and know when he's going to be on and visit about him.

"I just think it's really impressive that a kid from a small town in Nebraska can make it so big and be so determined and do such a great thing. We're all really proud of him."

Chamberlain's performance was not impressive. The Yankees had announced that he would be limited to about 60 pitches, and he was gone after only 2 1/3 innings and 62 pitches.

He threw 37 pitches in the first inning as he issued three of his four walks, struck out three, gave up one earned run and was not involved in the decision as the Yankees lost, 9-3.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was written as a class assignment at the American Indian Journalism Institute and was originally published on AIJI: Freedom Forum Diversity Institute.)

Patrick L. Delabrue, Menominee, is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and a graduate of the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute. Delabrue has worked as a reporter at the Menominee Nation News and interned as a reporter at the Sheboygan (Wis.) Press. He also had a reporting internship at the Appleton (Wis.) Post-Crescent under the Chips Quinn Scholars Program.

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