Less than one week removed from rookie sensation Phil Hughes’ no-hit bid, Chien-Ming Wang flirted with perfection into the eighth inning at Yankees Stadium. After retiring 22 straight batters, Wang’s perfect game, no-hitter, and shutout bid came to end with one swing of the bat from Ben Broussard, who hit a hanging changeup for a homerun. The unflappable Wang continued the inning amid a standing ovation to get the final two outs, pitching through the eighth to deliver the win in the longest performance by a Yankees starter this season.

Just when you thought it was safe to watch again, another Yankee rotation fatality hit the starting staff in an early season plagued by injury after injury. What was proving to be a special night in rookie sensation Phil Hughes’ career ended with a wince and a slow walk to the dugout in the 7th inning of a no-hit gem. Making his second career start, Hughes flashed all the poise and maturity worthy of the hype as he dominated the Texas Ranger lineup during his quest for immortality. Hughes was so close to the record books, so close to carving a career spot into the Yankees rotation, so close to being embraced as a true Yankee, but in the end, he was only so close. One out into the seventh inning of a 9-0 lead, Hughes grimaced over in pain prompting Joe Torre and the training staff to all but teleport to the mound at light speed fearing the worst. What Phil Hughes couldn’t finish, his hamstring did. Phil Hughes left the game with a line reading 6.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K only to be faced with two numbers no one wanted to see, 4-6 weeks on the disabled list.

New York had a brief glimpse into the future as twenty year old rookie phenom Phil Hughes took the mound to make his Major League debut against the Toronto Blue Jays. In a questionable move by the organization to sidestep the planned development course of baseball’s number one pitching prospect, the call-up came as an inevitable move with the Yankees current injury plagued rotation. Following a successful 2006 season split between single and double A, where he compiled a 12-6 record with a 2.16 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 148 innings, the first round pick (23rd overall) in the 2004 draft got the call from AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre after posting a 2-1 record with a 3.34 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched.

Alex Rodriguez may not have had an extra base hit in the series finale in Boston, but he more than made up for it in Tampa Bay. Rodriguez tied a Major League record for homeruns in the month of April Monday night, hitting his 13th and 14th homeruns at Tropicana Field. He continued his tear through the month of April getting four hits and continuing a season long hit streak that has raised his batting average up to an even .400. A-Rod also added to his Major League leading total of 34 RBIs, a record for the month of April previously held by Albert Pujols (32) set a year ago. With six more games to play in the month, Alex Rodriguez is looking to easily write himself into the record books for not only the month of April but for the entire season. Currently, he has 14 homeruns and 34 RBIs in 18 games, which puts him on pace to hit 108 homeruns and 263 RBIs give or take a few, which is to say the least, impressive. What more can I say, I mean if Albert Belle can hit 267 homeruns during a season on World Series Baseball a la Sega Genesis circa 1995, who is to say that A-Rod’s current pace is anything more than laughable? Oh yea? Prove it.

The New York Yankees first great comeback of the 2007 season took shape in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, trailing the Cleveland Indians by 4 runs, 6-2. What was to follow was a walkoff victory parade worthy of Major League baseball’s largest paycheck. With a swing of the bat, Alex Rodriguez capped the 6 run rally to seal the win with another walkoff homerun, his second of the early season. With two outs, Josh Phelps started the rally with a solo homerun, his first of the season and first since May 2005. Jorge Posada followed with a two-strike single up the middle and Johnny Damon walked, bringing Derek Jeter to the plate as the tying run. Jeter singled to left, scoring Posada, and Bobby Abreu capped a four hit day with a single that scored Damon, bringing them within 1 run of the Indians. After a wild pitch, Jeter and Abreu moved up on the basepads leaving an open first base for baseball’s hottest hitter. But even with a struggling Joe Borowski, Cleveland decided to take their chances with A-Rod, leaving Michael Kay to take the words out of my mouth with a homerun call that echoed the hallways of a walkoff victory march around the office.

Nearly two years removed from his last Major League win, Carl Pavano turned in the seasons top performance from a Yankees starter to get his long awaited victory. Pavano pitched seven strong innings, limiting a potent Twins lineup to six hits and two earned runs on 79 pitches. The win also marked the first of the season from the New York starting staff. Pavano had alot of support behind him as he opposed his experimental replacement from last season, Sidney Ponson. The Yankees immediately took advantage of their inflated numbers against Ponson to put up five runs in the first two innings and three more before his departure in the sixth. For the third straight game, Alex Rodriguez homered to add to his Major League leading homerun total and pace early season critics.

For as many times as my neighbors furrow a brow to the “walkoff” chant that starts in the ninth inning of every New York home game down in the run column, nothing brings an easier smile than the “victory march” from door to door when the chant pays off. Down one run with two outs in the ninth and the bases loaded, Alex Rodriguez made the victory march even sweeter with a two strike swing that saw his second homerun of the game charge over the center field wall and fade into the black. Now three games into the season, A-Rod is giving New York fans every excuse to keep the cheers coming and make that key offseason decision for him. With the game on the line, when it counts, A-Rod delivered what Yankees fans have been begging for, a truly memorable walkoff homerun.

In an otherwise unmemorable loss, New York fans had the pleasure of welcoming Andy Pettitte back to the Bronx on a memorable cold snowy night. As he walked onto the field amid a standing ovation, Pettitte looked to get his first win in pinstripes since the end of the 2003 season. Slowed by back spasms during the spring, Pettitte was set to a pitch count of around 80 pitches and after cruising through the first inning, New York prepared to write the storybook return it had hoped for. Unfortunately, somebody forgot to give the Yankees defense their lines in the script. Three more errors cost the team two runs and Pettitte was less than sharp following his first inning of work. In all, Pettitte lasted four plus innings in an 83 pitch effort that saw him surrender 2 earned runs on six hits.

Spring is in the air with the smell of fresh cut grass, popcorn, peanuts and beer and that means only one thing…let’s play ball! It’s opening day around the majors and we are poised for another 162 games of America’s pastime and a new season of rivalry. The Yankees, coming off another disappointing season, are boasting the most dominant lineup from 1-9 in the Majors as they opened at home with a day game feature against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The anticipation of the famed roll call and expectations of baseball immortality buzzed the air but nothing highlighted the day more than seeing Cory Lidle’s wife and son throwing out the first pitch as well as the emergence of Bobby Murcer from the announcers booth.