Rant #2,189: Broken Wings

Last night, during the New York Yankees' 7-2 win against the lowly Kansas City Royals, the Bronx Bombers organization's worst nightmare became reality in a quick instant.

Batting the the first inning against Kansas City pitcher Jakob Jnnis, a 90 miles per hour-plus pitch hit Yankees' slugger Aaron Judge on the wrist.

He grimaced in pain, shook his hand a few times, and then the All-Star outfielder, acting as designated hitter for the game, made his way to first.

The Yankees' trainer ran out as quickly as I have ever seen his portly body move as Judge strode to first base. The trainer did a couple of quick physical tests on the wrist, asked Judge how he felt, and walked away, probably not fully convinced that the current face of the Yankees was OK, but he was OK for the moment.

Judge ran the bases, later scored, and in fact, came up to the plate again, and got an infield single.

But looking at how he swung, the Yankees pulled him from the game, sent him for a quick MRI, and the worst possible news came back--he had a fractured wrist, and will miss about three weeks of the season, but probably more.

The fans absolutely love Judge, and even non-Yankees fans at least respect the guy. The 6 foot, 7 inch player regularly gets cheers in opponents' ballparks, and he is as likable for his demeanor as he is for the mammoth homers he hits, 26 of them this year alone.

And later in the game, in something that I don't think has ever happened before, thousands of people at the Yankees game turned on their cell phones in unison, displaying something of an electronic candlelight vigil for the popular 25 year old player.

And honestly, this couldn't come at a worse time for the Yankees.

They have been in a dogfight all year with the Boston Red Sox for the top spot in the American League East, and as we speak, they are just 4 1/2 games behind the team from Fenway Park with a big series coming up next week with the Bosox in Boston.

The Yankees have become quite injury riddled this season--among the walking wounded is catcher Gary Sanchez, who is on the disabled list again with bad wheels--and others have stepped up in the process, including surprise All-Star Gleybar Torres and Miguel Andujar, who has surprised many as probably, along with Torres, the leading candidates for the league's Rookie of the Year award.

Judge is expected to miss three weeks, but you just know that probably will be more. It could have been a worse break, but for the Yankees, it is a really, really bad break, no matter how severe it actually is.

And in a funny twist of fate, Judge wasn't the only Yankee to get hit by a ball last night.

Pitcher Sonny Gray also got hit, nicked on a batted ball on his hand, but happily, he appears to be OK.

So on a day that the Yankees fortified their pitching staff by adding J.A. Happ and Zach Britton, they got the biggest hit you can get when your best player gets hit and is down for the count for the next couple of weeks.

At least the Yankees do not have their crosstown rivals' New York Mets' problems with injuries, but losing Judge for any length of time is bad enough.

His story is such an intriguing one--born on the West Coast to an unknown birth mother and father of mixed ethnicity, he was adopted by his Caucasian parents who are both teachers at a day old, has an also adopted brother who is a missionary, turned down his first pro offer to go to college, and when he finally made it to Yankee Stadium, he hit a home run in his very first at bat, and the very next season, he won Rookie of the Year, shattering every rookie hitting record that there was, and in last week's All-Star game, he hit yet another homer ... I mean, if this guy is not the All-American kid for the current time, I don't know who is.

Hopefully, he will recover quickly and continue to lead the Yankees to victory as he has been doing for the past two seasons.

Them are the breaks, I guess.

Have a good weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.