I remember when Mike Hampton came in the league, and everyone talked about how the guy was offered a scholarship to FSU to play cornerback, how he was a ridiculous athlete, yadda, yadda, yadda. How the man played football, and especially defense, is beyond me; I would think in order to make a proper tackle, your body shouldn’t break upon impact.

After sitting out the last two seasons with arm issues, Hampton was slated to return tonight, until he strained his pectoral muscle during his warmups.

Hampton, scheduled to make his first start since Aug. 19, 2005, strained his left pectoral muscle while warming up in the bullpen before Atlanta’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was seen grimacing after throwing a pitch.

The Braves left-hander was listed as day to day.

Hampton has had other physical problems while trying to return after two elbow surgeries. He pitched only one inning in Mexico this winter before straining his hamstring when he slipped on the mound. He then strained his groin in the second inning of his second spring training game.

As a Braves fan, my fear is the strained chest muscle will lead to a sore neck, which will result in upper and lower back pains, which will turn into serious leg cramps, which will somehow tie back into his throwing arm that he had surgery on. At this point, I wouldn’t say anything’s impossible.