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at the Browning game,” he said. “It was like hearing a tree branch snap. This was the same thing.”
    Silence fell over the field as Hamels was tended to. Finally, with the help of others, the young pitcher rose to his feet, and made it to his mother’s car for a race to the hospital.
    â€œIt was pure devastation,” said Hamels, recalling the ride to the hospital. “I never cried so hard in my life. I thought it was over. I thought I’d have to take up soccer again.”
    Furtak stayed at the game, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He thought he had just witnessed the last pitch Cole Hamels would ever throw. He really did.
    When the game was over, Furtak and Head Coach Sam Blalock went to the hospital.
    â€œThis is not a normal arm,” Furtak plaintively told one of the doctors. “You need to do something special.”

    Hamels was diagnosed with a complete fracture of the humerus bone. Doctors believe he initially weakened the bone, or suffered a stress reaction or microfracture, running into a parked car while playing touch football the day before. The force of throwing a pitch caused the weakened bone to snap.
    A day after the injury, Hamels visited Jan Fronek, a highly regarded San Diego orthopedic surgeon who was also the San Diego Padres team physician.
    â€œI remember Dr. Fronek telling me he wasn’t sure I’d ever throw a baseball again,” Hamels said. “He said you might want to pick a different position.”
    Four days after the injury, Fronek performed surgery on Hamels and inserted two rods into the humerus.

    Everyone crossed their fingers.
    The rehab moved in baby steps. Hamels did not pitch during his junior year at Rancho Bernardo. He pinch-hit occasionally, but spent most of his time shagging balls in the outfield during batting practice. After having the rods removed in January 2001, he started tossing with Furtak at a distance of 10 feet. By April, he started throwing lightly in the bullpen. The intensity of the bullpen sessions increased until nearly a year had passed since the injury. The Broncos were playing a coaches’ league game in July 2001. Furtak asked Hamels if he wanted to pitch an inning. Hamels got up on the mound. His arm stayed in one piece. If surgical procedures were measured like a pitcher’s starts, Fronek would have been credited with a perfect game.
    Getting on the mound a year after the injury helped Hamels clear an important physical and psychological hurdle, but he was far from ready to turn it loose for scouts. He was slow coming out of the gate in workouts before his senior season. He had felt some soreness in the arm and was still very tentative. The Rancho Bernardo coaching staff went slow with Hamels, letting the pitcher dictate his own pace. As the season began to unfold, Furtak believed Hamels was physically ready to let it all out. It was time for a pep talk.
    â€œCole, you’ve got about a two-month window here to show these guys how good you are,” Furtak told Hamels. “You’re ready.”
    Hamels made his senior-season debut on March 30, 2002. Furtak recalls seeing one scout, Darrell Conner of the Phillies, at the game.
    â€œHow’s Cole doing?” Conner asked Furtak before the game.
    â€œYou’re going to like this,” Furtak told Conner. “You’re going to really like this. He might be better than Wheatland.”
    Conner’s report from that game showed how much he liked Hamels.
    â€œThe ball jumped out of his hand with very little effort,” the report read. “Fastball gets on hitters quickly. Power kind of curveball with late 12-6 break. Changeup has good arm speed and fade. Threw it for strikes.”
    In the summary of his report, Conner mentioned this was Hamels’ first start of the season and he was on a strict pitch count.
    â€œA very pleasant surprise,” Conner wrote. “I don’t know what the medical will say, but if