Today is Mother’s day in America and thankfully that means macho baseball players waving pink bats in the air. Of course, it is all in the name of raising the awareness of breast cancer and to raise much needed funds at the same time. Sportsmen are often the target of negative stories (not always unjustified), so it’s great to see so many of them using their positions of influence in such a positive way. And on that positive note, we take a look at the week that was in “Weekly” hit ground ball.

Bad week for the Blue Jays – There has been a fair amount of brash talk and bold moves from the Blue Jays over the past eighteen months or so, but the signs are that Toronto’s efforts to recapture former glories are destined to fall short. B.J. Ryan has had Tommy John surgery this week and will be out for the rest of this season at least. Some may call it bad luck, yet giving a lucrative five-year deal to a closer with such violent mechanics was a risky move. The loss of Roy Halladay, who had his appendix removed on Friday, for the next six weeks certainly was bad luck. When Troy Glaus pulled up lame trying to run out a ground ball later that night, it was as if someone was trying to tell the Blue Jays something. “It never rains, it pours”; especially to teams whose GM has been winding people up left, right and centre (lying about injuries might be common in football, but it doesn’t go down well in baseball circles).

Pinch hit of the week – Ryan Howard has had a slow start to the season and spent most of the week nursing an injury, but on Wednesday night he showed his star quality in spades. The Phils were three runs down against the D-Backs with the bases loaded. Howard was called off the bench to pinch hit. The first ball he faced was dispatched into the right field seats for a grand slam. Unfortunately for the Phillies (and for some Fantasy owners) the cameo performance was ultimately followed by a move to the fifteen day DL.

Good things come to those who wait? – When the Yankees missed out on Matsuzaka, they wasted little time in going after another Japanese pitcher: Kei Igawa. It was as if they had gone out to the auction with money in their pocket and, despite missing out on their main target, were determined not to come home empty handed. You always tend to regret such purchases. While Dice-K is settling in nicely, Igawa is finding life much tougher. After initially being demoted to the bullpen, Igawa was sent down to the Minors this week to try and find some form. With Roger Clemens and Phil Hughes set for the rotation in a month or so, whether there will be a space for him to return to is in question. He was signed to a five-year deal so has plenty of time to try and turn things around. Patience is not usually a quality associated with New York, but you would think that even the Yanks couldn’t just shrug off a $46 million investment in a player ($26 million posting fee and a $20 million five-year contract). Stranger things have happened in the Bronx though.

Barry who? – Mr Bonds may be second all-time in the home run list (at time of writing), but has he ever hit two homers in one inning? No he has not; however his team mate Bengie Molina did so on Monday against the Mets. I hope Bengie offered to give Bonds some advice when he sat down again in the dugout!

Weaver watch – It’s sad to say this, but the Mariners may actually prefer to pay Weaver to be on the DL rather than to pitch right now. Jeff has been sidelined by tendinitis in his right shoulder; not, as was first thought, as a result of a neck injury caused by constantly turning around to see where his pitches were ending up. He always seems like a nice guy when interviewed, so hopefully the injury was the cause of his struggles and he can come back and be effective. If not, well he’s still getting $8 million this year so he’s not having it too badly.

Shock of the week – Curt Schilling was moved to make a public apology on his blog after coming out with some very blunt comments about Barry Bonds in an early morning radio interview. First he said that Bonds had admitted taking steroids, then he linked this “cheating” with the way Bonds had cheated on his wife and cheated on his taxes. Terry Francona suggested that the Big Schill would do well to “zip it” in future. It would certainly make for a quieter life, but also a much less funnier one.

Any colours you like – San Diego hosted a Seventies night on Friday with the Padres decked out in a fetching combo of bright yellow and brown. Call me colour blind, but I thought they looked great. They beat the Cardinals 7-0 although this was less due to St Louis being bewildered by the “interesting” colour scheme and more down to Jake Peavy being on the mound.

Beware of “the Barber” – Cabin fever set in for the Mets during their stay in San Francisco with Carlos “the Barber” Beltran mowing the mops off his team mates one by one. As the week progressed, even the Mets’ GM Omar Minaya succumbed to the razor, but Jose Reyes did his best to keep hold of his beloved locks. Resistance is always futile in these cases and sure enough he had his hair cut on Saturday. MLB.com reported that, when told he and Reyes now looked even more alike, Willie Randolph declared: “I’m better looking than he is.” You can’t argue with your manager, so Reyes will have to take that on the chin.

Why is everyone laughing? – Seeing a player suffer an injury should never be fun, but there are occasions when it’s hard not to laugh. Every cricketer has a chuckle when a batsman is hit in the box, for example. Justin Morneau didn’t suffer that particular indignity; however he left yesterday’s game against the Tigers with a broken nose after a Nick Punto thrown ball bounced off the turf and clonked him in the face. The Twins have been scuffling recently and can’t afford to lose their AL MVP for any time. Something tells me most of the comments from his team mates won’t be overly sympathetic though.