Jomboy (baseball)

James Vincent Michael "Jimmy" O'Brien, better known by his nickname Jomboy, is a sports media personality who creates social media videos investigating sports stories. Jomboy rose to prominence on the internet in 2019 when he created a viral video showing with subtitles what New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone appeared to be saying during an argument with an umpire in a game.[2] Jomboy gained further prominence when he published a series of videos appearing to demonstrate how a story in The Athletic reported that the Houston Astros were stealing signs in 2017.[3] O'Brien is known for his ability to read lips and use videos to shed new light on sports topics.[4]

Jomboy
O'Brien on The Michael Kay Show in 2020
Personal information
BornJames Vincent Michael O'Brien[1]
(1989-02-18) February 18, 1989
Hazlet, New Jersey, U.S.
OccupationSports media content creator
YouTube information
Subscribers737,000
100,000 subscribers

Early life and education

O'Brien was born and lived in Hazlet, New Jersey until he was eight years old. He later lived in Lindfield, New South Wales; Lake Zurich, Illinois; Southbury, Connecticut; Livermore, California; Newtown, Connecticut; back to the San Francisco Bay Area; and then Lavallette, New Jersey before moving to New York City.[5][6] O'Brien graduated with a degree in history from Central Connecticut State University.

Career

After graduating from college, he worked as a videographer. In 2015, he created a viral video called "Scaring My Mom With a Fake Dog," showing a repeated prank on his mother, and sold the rights to the video for $4,000.[7]

Sports media

In 2017, O'Brien created a podcast called "Talkin' Yanks," which built a following and led O'Brien to raise money and turn Jomboy Media into a full-time job by the end of 2018.[8] While watching a July 2019 Yankees game, O'Brien discovered that Aaron Boone's argument with umpire Brennan Miller had been picked up by microphones on an MLB.TV feed, and he published the video of the argument with subtitles showing what was being said. The video went viral and Boone's use of the phrase "savages in the box" became a motto for the Yankees.[2] O'Brien published more "breakdowns" of incidents in MLB and other sports with occasionally profane commentary and gained 300,000 YouTube subscribers after the Boone video. Yankees and MLB officials expressed mixed reactions to the viral video, with some questioning whether fans should be able to hear conversations on the field and in the dugout and others appreciating O'Brien for making creative content that could market baseball to younger fans. He also started a baseball podcast in July 2019 with his longtime friend Jake Storiale and has been recently joined by former Major League Baseball player Trevor Plouffe.[4]

O'Brien gained more fame when he published a two-minute video appearing to demonstrate how the Astros were stealing signs in the 2017 season as a part of the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal, within hours of the release of an article in The Athletic which detailed the allegations for the first time. In the video, O'Brien showed the scheme playing out in real time in a game against the Chicago White Sox. Whenever catcher Kevan Smith called for pitcher Danny Farquhar to throw a changeup, the sound of someone banging on a trash can in the Astros' dugout was unmistakable. The White Sox were forced to change their signs as a result. O'Brien argued that this "disturbing" sequence proved there was no way the Astros could have gotten the signs without the help of technology.[9][10] O'Brien published more videos in subsequent days, which garnered millions of views on YouTube, Twitter and other platforms.[3]

References
  1. Jomboy [@Jomboy_] (September 13, 2012). "#tbt Strongest brother (named James Vincent Michael O'Brien and lives on Merlin's lane in Newtown ct) alive? instagr.am/p/Phcqgwm3V3/" (Tweet). Retrieved January 25, 2019 – via Twitter.
  2. Harvey, Coley (August 16, 2019). "How a fan's viral video turned Aaron Boone's Yankees into 'savages'". ESPN. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  3. Lee, Joon (January 17, 2020). "How the internet helped crack the Astros' sign-stealing case". ESPN. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  4. "Could baseball influencers such as Jomboy, PitchingNinja offer solution to MLB's marketing woes?". Cronkite News. December 25, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  5. Jomboy [@Jomboy_] (October 23, 2019). "Oh fun! // 0-8: Hazlet, New Jersey // 8-10: Lindfield, NSW, Australia // 10-14: Lake Zurich, Illinois // 14-16: Southbury, CT // 16-20: Livermore, CA // 20-24: Newtown, CT // 24-28: Walnut Creek/Livermore/Pleasanton, CA // 28-30: Lavallette, NJ // a couple weeks from now- :New York City" (Tweet). Retrieved January 25, 2019 – via Twitter.
  6. Carig, Marc. "The improbable rise of the internet force known as Jomboy". The Athletic | ink. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  7. Hines, Ree (January 21, 2015). "Man pranks mom with fake dog — again and again". TODAY.com. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  8. McCarthy, Michael (March 5, 2020). "After Viral Astros and Yankees Videos, 'Jomboy' Looks To Build Media Brand". Front Office Sports. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  9. Gaydos, Ryan (November 13, 2019). "Video shows how Houston Astros were allegedly stealing signs during 2017 season". Fox News. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  10. O'Brien, Jimmy "Jomboy". Astros using cameras to steal signs, a breakdown. Jomboy Media, 2019-11-12.
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