Aroldis Chapman’s comments must have Cy Young rolling over in his grave

Cy Young must be rolling over in his grave.

The Hall of Famer tossed a Major League Baseball-record 749 complete games over 22 seasons.

During that time frame – the late 19th and early 20th centuries – there were no relief pitchers, let alone long relievers, short relievers, left-handed specialists nor closers.

Therefore, Aroldis Chapman’s recent comments likely have the old timer – whose name is attached to the award the best pitcher in baseball receives annually – tossing and turning rather than resting in peace.

Chapman – who helped the Chicago Cubs end a 108-year World Series title drought this fall – signed the richest contract for a closer in baseball history when he returned to the New York Yankees in the offseason.

Upon having his five-year, $86 million contract finalized Friday, the “Cuban Missile” used the platform to explain how Cubs manager Joe Maddon misused him during the postseason.

His gripe?

He was being used too often.

“I think he was wrong in the way he used me. He abused a little bit on how much he made me pitch, and sometimes he made me pitch when I didn’t need to pitch,” Chapman was quoted. “But he’s the manager. He knows his stuff. He manages the way he knows, the way he wants and the way he wants to win. It was his decision, and my duty is to be prepared. I prepare myself to be strong, so that my arm is healthy. Thank God I was able to do the job, and I could pitch the way he wanted me to.”

This is coming from the man who nearly became the latest goat in the Cubs’ previously long-lived miserable lore.

In the record books, Chapman goes down as the winner of a wild Game 7 that capped an entertaining and historic 2016 World Series. However, it comes with an asterisk as it is accompanied by a blown save.

With Chicago leading Cleveland 6-3 in the eighth inning, Chapman was summoned to the mound, where his usual electric stuff wasn’t buzzing by quite as fast and the Indians rallied for three runs, two of which were charged to the flamethrower, to tie the score.

Cubs fans certainly had to be thinking: “Oh, no. Not again.”

But Chapman was able to avoid further disaster and get through the ninth inning, forcing the game to extra innings, where Chicago scored two in the 10th and gave up only one in the bottom of the frame to escape Cleveland with a victory and that elusive World Series title.

Having thrown 273 pitches in 13 postseason appearances, perhaps his arm was tired.

Later Friday, Maddon responded to Chapman’s comments, saying “Would I do it differently? No. There is no Game 7 without winning Game 6. And there is no Game 8 if you don’t win Game 7. That’s why you do what you have to do.”

Maddon – whose team acquired Chapman in a blockbuster trade during the season from those same Yankees – went on in the New York Post article to praise the hurler while also saying the Cubs wouldn’t have won without him.

Maddon responded with class, something Chapman – who we seem to quickly forget was the first MLB player to be reprimanded under Major League Baseball’s new Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy and therefore was suspended the first 30 games of this past season – should learn from.

The hard-throwing lefty earned that lofty contract largely because of what he did with Chicago.

There’s no denying that he’s one of the best relief pitchers in baseball.

But as he complains about how much he had to pitch, let’s take a quick history lesson.

Less than five years ago there was a possibility that Chapman – then with the Cincinnati Reds – would be morphed into a starter.

The talk came up multiple times early in his career, but the Reds ultimately decided to keep Chapman in the closer role.

You think he’s complaining now? Imagine how overworked he would be feeling if Cincinnati had made him a starter.

You’ve simply got to do your job and do what the boss says.

It seems ironic that he’s complaining when the team actually won the title. What would he have said if he had done all that and they had lost?

Better yet, what if the Cubs had lost and he took the “L” in Game 7?

In all reality, he’s getting paid a ton of money to pitch a miniscule amount of innings, albeit often the most important ones.

If Chapman thinks his arm is tired, he should think of Cy Young.

His arm must still be exhausted. So quit with the sour grapes and let the man rest.

This story was originally published December 19, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Aroldis Chapman’s comments must have Cy Young rolling over in his grave."