On the Yankees beat

WOW...I guess he wasnt faking it. Thanks for the update Kat!

As one of the people who thought the DL was a hiding spot for him - I'll be sure to cut myself a slice of crow to munch on.

This is crazy!!!

I did the exact thing 9 weeks ago on a golf trip at TPC Sawgrass!!

On the 3rd day I was there I hit a ball REALLY FAT ya know like a $hitty 20 handicapper does from time to time nomsayin...Like all dirt no ball blah blah hah.

Anyway I felt a mild pain on my right side figured I strained my side muscle aka right Oblique and I kinda just ignored it cause it wasn't really too terrible and I was certainly not going to let it ruin my trip. Besides I woke up the next day and felt fine.

Anyway I played on it for 4 days after initially feeling it chalking it up to a minor-nothing and then on the plane home I coughed and BANG the cough actually broke my ninth rib. Just like Hughes weird...

Needless to say that actually did hurt quite a bit but Hughes only has a stress fracture which I think is what I had before I got on the plane.

The orthopoedist told me it can happen fairly easily because the first little bit of pain you feel is so slight that in a day or two you don't even remember you did it. Meanwhile all those tiny "intercostal muscles" (that keep your ribs attached and in the the right places) are enflamed and often with ZERO SYMPTOMS putting them and rib bones they are bound to super vulnerable to any kind of stress to the point where even something as seemingly mundane as a cough or sneeze can actually trigger a stressfracture or in my case comeplete fracture.

You're just not aware that it's hurt and do nothing about it.

Weird.

Now I really was getting crazy last night with all the "Keep Him Underground" stuff but now I totally empathize!!!

Sorry Phil..

PS. YOU STILL NEED A THIRD PITCH!!!!

I'll go back to my original statement on this. You can't DL someone with out a medical record of injury. Of course you could always get a doctor to fake the records but then your into shady territory.

Now I'm not out to compare my ninth rib to Phil Franchise's or anything of mine to Phil Franchise for that matter.

He's a professional athlete and 7 yrs my junior and I had a complete break not just a stress fracture but I'll tell you this is very VERY bad news for him.

Having suffered the identical injury it took a full 6 weeks before I was cleared to even lay on my right side...And I'm no Yankee...So I can only imagine how much caution and attention will be placed on his full recovery but I'd be shocked if we see this kid again before July.

I can't say I'm necessarily "injury prone" but no doubt our boy will be adorned with said tag I'm sure. Having 2 consecutive seasons cut short with long term injuries is more than enough for the critics to hang that rep on his back and maybe they're right?

I don't know but I for one am heart broken.

I was really really hoping to see the kid come of age this year and help us the way I believed he could and now it all seems to have just been put in doubt especially for this season.

Two years in a row sucks.

I'm not pissed at him...I'm just pissed.

Michael, you're right in terms of the length of the disability -- the crawl on YES says he'll be out 6 to 8 weeks.

Makes this a very different problem for the team.

Mike, I dont blame you.

Diane, thanks for the update.

Posted by Michael PTRS | April 30, 2008 22:08

Hughes is not on the DL he is not injured. The organization can't seem to come to grips with the consequences of their decisions and actions with regard to having the naive delusions that go with skipping out on Johan Santana for A 21 yr old kid with no 3rd pitch.

They're embarrassed and they should be but they are cowards for not owning up to their mistake.

Hey Caspian

Ya think King Felix had a third pitch when he was 21 yrs old?

Oh wait he's 22 and he has 5 since his debut in 06.

Wow....first it was bad night vision, then a strained oblique, now a broken rib. Tomorrow he's going to need a kidney transplant!

Posted by Michael PTRS | April 30, 2008 22:39

Give the kid an OSCAR..

Take a bow Phil!!!

Bravo Lad.

Hey lets face it, this team is a deck of cards. On paper we can do battle with most clubs and make the playoffs. This of course was the best guess for the club. But teams with older players and young pitchers are prone to lineup changes as the older guys are placed on the DL and the younger guys go through growing pains.

I as a fan thought the Yankees would not have to place Posada and Arod on the DL. Now you see the evidence for their salaries and how much that they are missed.

This will be a long season, no doubt. As I commmented yesterday Damon and Giambi look bad. Its time to move some of the younger guys up. Giambi should be given his release. This gives us an opt. for another pitcher or a positional player. Damon has looked unsure of himself in the OF and at the plate. I'm surprised that we are only two games under .500 with the play of Cano, Damon and Giambi. And our young starting pitchers who have no wins and 5 loses. Its May 2, the season is not over but this style of play is getting old and I sense the frustration with Girardi and his underachievers on the roster.

Boy, did Abreu look bad a couple of balls yesterday. The problem with some of these players, they're value and contracts have made them undesirable for trade.