It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the time of new beginnings, it was the beginning of a season of tee times.

Tuesday April 28, 2009 was the best of times and the worst of times for Chris Shearn.

Tonight I saw the best of Phil Hughes, back from the Minors and dealing like he was trained at the best blackjack table in Vegas. He was like the Tigers roach motel. Detroit hitters came up, and immediately sat down. The ones that did reach base were left stranded like the Skipper and Gilligan. I would have given a Lost reference, but I don’t watch it, so I had to go way back.

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale a tale of a faithful trip. That started from Scranton/Wilkes Barre, aboard the Yanks Triple-A ship.

Yes a stretch, but its almost 11 o’clock and I’m getting a little loopy. What a performance by Hughes. Six innings, two hits, no runs, two walks and six strikeouts. A scoreless game until the seventh inning, when the Bombers put up a 10-spot highlighted by a grand slam off the bat of Jose Molina. Another solid inning out of Mark Melancon…can you say Melancon/Chamberlain/Rivera to close games? Sorry Joba, if Phil continues to pitch like this, and Wang comes off the DL and returns to form, you should be headed back to your strength – the pen – which in this case is mightier than the start.

Now I know none of you probably care about hockey, but I do so I am going to rant a little bit. Should the Rangers even have been in a Game 7 with the likes of the Washington Capitals…NO! Should the Rangers been in a tight game seven with the Washington Capitals…NO! Were they though? YES!

Rangers fans, how many games has Wade Redden come up small in this year? Plenty! So should it come as a huge shock that Redden skated on the back of his heels when Sergei Federov was winding up to take the game-winning slap shot past Henrik Lundqvist?

Not only did Redden not take the body. Not only did Redden not attempt a poke check. Redden acted as a screen on his own goaltender who stood on his head the entire game and deserved better than to have an awful worthless defenseman get in the way of the Rangers headed to the second round. There I said it. Now maybe I can sleep a little better tonight. The Yankees win helps, but Redden is on my list. If I were the Rangers organization, as he was shaking hands, his uniform would have been taken off and he would have been cut right there on the spot. He is garbage. Not just ordinary garbage, he’s garbage that’s been sitting in a landfill for months, that smells worse than anything you have ever smelled in your life.

Okay, I’m done. I am going to take a couple of Gaviscon and call it a night. No Sports Sprint tomorrow, but I will see you for BP tomorrow night at 6 p.m. ET on YES!

Remember Newman on Seinfeld and how he loathed Keith Hernandez…I looooooooathe you Wade Redden.