Cubs starter Jason Hammel had to leave his last start before the All-Star break due to cramps in his right hand. That’s not good. The Cubs have a team doctor, though, and the team doctor told Hammel how to deal with that problem. Stretching? No. Potassium supplements? No.
Potato chips.
“For my cramps, if it’s a chronic thing, he said, ‘Potato chips,’ because they have a lot of potassium and the sea salt helps retain water. So I focused on that over the break and ate a lot of potato chips, and I think it turned out pretty well. Potato chip prescription ... that’s what I’m going to try to go with.”
So far so good. He pitched yesterday and allowed one run over six innings, struck out seven, walked one and got the win.
My doctor only tells me “diet” and “exercise” and “avoid fatty foods” and “it probably doesn’t matter what we do anyway because you’re 43 now and, really, it’s all about managing the decline.” Maybe I need to start seeing the Cubs’ team doctor.