Joba-Youkilis; war or coincidence?

A lot is made from the 'battle' between Red Sox first baseman, Kevin Youkilis, and Yankees starting pitcher, Joba Chamberlain. As we know, Youkilis has seen four pitches nearly hit him in the past year. The first two were last year at the Stadium when Joba blazed two back-to-back pitches over Youk's head. The next was when Joba threw behind Youkilis' legs. The last encounter occured last night when Joba threw, again, at the head of Kevin Youkilis. To add insult to injury, it was a foul ball as he couldn't get the bat out of the way when ducking from the pitch.

That begs the question -- war or coincidence? This rivalry hasn't been the same over the past few years. Like the Mets and Yankees when Clemens and Piazza were no longer involved, this series seems to have lost some sting over the past few years. But let's remember something. How many times has Derek Jeter had a pitch thrown at his head by a Red Sox pitcher? What about all the other Yankees?

I would hate to think Chamberlain is doing it on purpose. But Red Sox fans have every right to be mad, so does Youkilis. He's handled it very well and not charged the mound. Expect a pre-warning before the game on Sunday if anyone gets hit today.