Joba Chamberlain gets emotional as he speaks about his relationship with his son, during a news conference yesterday. (AP)
TAMPA — Joba Chamberlain knows there is a lesson to be learned here, but it’s not about changing and trying to play it safe and be something you are not as a person, a pitcher or most importantly, a father.
Asked last night the lesson learned from his terrible trampoline accident Thursday, which produced a grotesque right ankle/foot injury as Chamberlain was on an outing with his 5-year-old son Karter, the Yankees right-hander answered: “I will never question being a father.”
He shouldn’t question being a father but he needs to question the choices he makes. If he doesn’t, the Yankees will question if it’s the right move to keep him in pinstripes.
After Chamberlain made that statement, he turned his face to the right to compose himself inside the pavilion at Steinbrenner Field. That took about 20 seconds. Tears welled in his eyes, cameras clicked. He took several deep breaths then continued. You had to feel for the guy.
“I think that’s the biggest thing,’’ Chamberlain said. “This game is very important to me. It allows me to do a lot of things, but my son is my pride and joy. The biggest thing is to don’t be so hard on yourself and realize what you were doing; you were trying to be a great dad.
“It’s still frustrating because I feel that I let [the team] down,’’ he said, “but that’s the biggest thing that I got. It’s just another hill that I’ve had to climb, and we’ll get over it and we’ll get going and be better for it.’’
Chamberlain’s life has been about climbing hills, and when he gets to the top, he skids out of control. But Chamberlain always is ready for the next hill. There comes a time when a player needs to avoid putting himself in a position of jeopardy.
Jumping on a room full of trampolines is not the smartest thing for a pitcher who is coming back from Tommy John surgery. But Chamberlain is not changing. He vowed he will pitch for the Yankees this season, and he is going to be there for his son — which means having a little fun, no matter the consequences.
Chamberlain often jokes about not being the smartest player, but you can put him up for Yankees father of the year.
“Karter went and played some more when I was laying there,’’ Chamberlain said.
Later, at the hospital, Karter was playing on his iPad when a nurse came in and asked what happened.
“Man, my dad got owned by a trampoline,” the Son of Joba said.
Things happen. They happen more frequently when you put yourself in this type of situation.
“We were just bouncing back and forth, went to take off, took off and it kind of went,’’ Chamberlain said. “It’s just another thing in the Book of Joba that’s continued to grow. Add another chapter. Hopefully there are a few more chapters to come on the good side.
“One of those things that bothered me was people were calling me and asking me if it was life-threatening, and I was going to lose my foot,’’ he added. “It was a subtalar dislocation, that’s the bottom of your foot. There were no bones popping out of the skin, contrary to what people wrote. It wasn’t life threatening.’’
About an hour after Chamberlain’s meeting with the press, general manager Brian Cashman spoke of the accident.
“Should better judgment have put you in a position to avoid that? I don’t want to deal with that at this stage,” said Cashman, who added he didn’t want to pile on.
Cashman clarified the injury.
“There was exposed bone from his heel because the skin got compromised. He had an open dislocation of the subtalar joint. There wasn’t much bleeding but there was some blood. There was risk of infection.’’
It was a mess, but, in the end, Chamberlain was just trying to be, in his own words, “a great dad.’’
That’s Joba. He said he’s not changing, but he may be changing uniforms someday.
kevin.kernan@nypost.com