LAGUNA BEACH, Ca. — The shower slides of Phil Hughes glided across his garage floor as he prepped his workspace. He slid a freshly charged battery into his Canon EOS M50. He affixed the camera to an overhead platform positioned above a pad bearing the name of his YouTube channel, “Phil’s Pulls.” He shifted his yellow Stanley utility knife out of view. He dragged a plastic garbage can near his chair, lowered the garage door and re-positioned an array of acoustic panels. Then he gazed through his lens.



“I’ve got to wash my hands,” Hughes said. “The last thing I want is a dirty fingernail in a video. Then that’s the first 50 comments I get.”



Hughes, 33 and semi-retired, is familiar with hecklers. He heard them often enough during 12 seasons pitching for the Yankees, Twins and Padres. He learned to disarm them with self-deprecation. The same principle applies to his new calling as a budding YouTube personality.