Pop Goes The Hammy

Phil Hughes. Wow. The kid was on his game tonight. I can see why they call him "Phil Franchise." If tonight was a glimpse of what we can expect from Phil throughout his career then this kid has "Hall Of Fame" written all over him. OK, maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but the kid was awesome tonight. It's a shame that hammy popped and he couldn't finish the game on his terms. A no-hitter into the 7th inning and the hammy goes. Why Baseball Gods? Why? I think the Yankees need to take a closer look at their Strength & Conditioning Coach because the number of injuries that has plagued the Yankees defies explanation. It's unreal. Wang. Mussina. Pettitte. Hughes. Pavano. Karstens. Damon. Matsui. I again ask the question, why Baseball Gods? Why? And from what I gathered from the post-game show, Hughes is definitely going to miss some time.
You have to love Phil's performance. He was attacking the strike zone. He was mixing his pitches. He was getting first pitch strikes and staying ahead of most batters. The end result, no-hit ball. Yankees fans have every right to be excited about what the future holds for this kid. I was all set to order a "Phil Hughes" Yankees shirt tonight. I think I'm still going to, but we'll see. Barring any massive weight game, I'm sure I'll get plenty of wear out of it.
Abreu still looked like ****. I wonder if he is having eye trouble. He's swinging at pitches out of the zone. He's hitting weak grounders. He's misjudging and dropping fly balls. Maybe Bobby has just gotten lucky when he makes solid contact. The only hole in my theory is that he's able to track a fly ball. So maybe his eye sight isn't bad? Maybe it's just failing? Maybe he needs some specs or contacts? Somebody call Lou Brown and get this guy an eye exam.
Did anybody catch A-Rod's little hand signal after his double in the 5th. He was twirling his finger as if to say "let's keep the line moving." At least that's what I took from it. It was quickly followed by doubles from Matsui and Posada. Situational hitting. It works.
The offense was clicking. A-Rod: 3 for 4. Posada: 3 for 4. Cano: 4 for 5. Jeter extended his hit streak and he's now hit safely in 57 of his last 59 games. I was talking to my friend Don during the game and he was telling me about some stat that Jayson Stark dropped, though eh couldn't remember the exact quote, so if anybody has heard this, let me know. It went something like: if Jeter can hit safely in his next 2 games (tonight and tomorrow), he will become the 3rd player in history to hit safely in 58 of 60 games. Joey D. and some guy from the 19th century are the other 2. I couldn't find anything online or in the press notes that referenced that. Maybe we'll see or hear something about it tomorrow if it's true. And if it is, it's quite the accomplishment.
I am really starting to wonder why Mike Myers is considered a lefty specialist. He blows the no-hitter by giving up a hit to a LH batter. Carl Crawford jacked him for a go-ahead Grand Slam. And he never seems to get David Ortiz out. I was so ticked when he blew the no-no.
Despite the injury to Hughes, May is off to a good start. The Yankees won and did so convincingly, on both sides of the field. The Red Sox lost and Papelbon blew the save. The Jays lost. The O's lost. The Devil Rays lost. The Yankees are still in last place. But, we're moving in the right direction.
I'll take it.
J