I've been following the "Joba Chamberlain" rules for awhile - the weird "we'll only let him pitch so many balls" thing:

Advertisement The 23-year-old right-hander asked pitching coach Dave Eiland and manager Joe Girardi for clarification of how he would be used. They met and told Chamberlain their intent.

Because Chamberlain threw only 100 innings last season, the Yankees intend to limit his innings to guard against injury. Chamberlain has thrown 126 innings so far. Six more starts would likely put him around 165.

I have to wonder about this, especially when you go back and look at how many innings guys like Nolan Ryan threw (never mind some of early 20th century pitchers). I really have to wonder when I watch Joba pitch after something like 8 days off, and he can't find the plate. How come I can tell he's gotten stale, but the coaching staff of the Yankees - paid gazillions of dollars, I might add - can't?

This is hardly limited to the Yankees, or to Chamberlain. I can't count how many games I've watched where the starter is mowing down the other side, a "magic number" gets hit, and out he comes. The reliever then comes in and proceeds to give up hits and runs. It's like watching a football game where the defense has held the entire game, but then in the last quarter they switch to the "prevent", which promptly prevents a win.

Here's a simple question for all these supposedly smart coaches and staff: what's wrong with staying with a winning strategy that's working?