Despite The Loss, Today Is Quite Possibly The Greatest Day In Cole Hamels' Life

After a solid turned subpar performance in Game 2, giving up 4 runs in 5 innings, Cole Hamels left the stadium quite urgently. No, he was not mad at himself. No, he did not have a fall out with Charlie Manual. Just the typical everyday occurance of his wife going into labor with a baby! From Yahoo! Sports

Hamels left the ballpark to be with his wife, a former “Survivor” contestant, who went into labor with the couple’s first child on Thursday.

Hamels was notified after he was lifted that his wife went into labor. Manager Charlie Manuel said the distraction possibly affected Hamels’ performance.

“It could have bothered him, yes,” Manuel said

I'm not sure what got into Hamels' head, but despite a rough 1st inning he was looking very good on the mound until Torrealba jacked one. It's at that point that he could not find his rhythm.

Everybody is saying that everybody knew nothing in terms of Heidi and while it was known that she was due anyday, no one knew that she had gone into labor. But surely that had to have entered Hamels' mind during the game and the pitch that Torrealba jacked, a curve ball, is Hamels' 3rd pitch and when he can hit his spots with the curve, with the way he throws a fastball and change up, he becomes unhittable, but when it's off, homeruns happen. Now I'm not saying that Heidi's condition affected his performance nor is it an excuse, but if something like that is in your mind and you are working on a pitch that you have not mastered yet, I find it hard to belive that there was no affect on him.

Regardless, congrats to Cole and Heidi! May the kid have a happy and healthy life and not named Yorvit, Torrealba, or Troy.