Ubaldo Jimenez Throws No Hitter for Colorado Rockies

            Ubaldo Jimenez, Jr. made Colorado Rockies history today, April 17, 2010, by pitching the first no hitter in the 18 year history of the Rockies.  Jimenez did not have perfect command walking six batters in the first 5 innings.  But his fast ball, at times hitting 100 mph and staying in the upper 90 in the final inning, was enough to keep the Atlanta Braves batters from making decent contact all night long.  The biggest treat to Jimenez’s no hit bid came in the 7^th inning when Troy Glaus smashed at liner to left center.  Dexter Fowler, who is an Atlanta native, made a spectacular diving catch to keep the no no in tact.  The television cameras panned back to Ubaldo mouthing a “Wow” as he saw Dexter making the catch. 

            In the final inning at Turner Field, Jimenez would have to face Martin Prado, Chipper Jones, and Brian McCann.  On the first pitch Prado looked at a called strike.  The second and third pitches missed the zone for a count of 2-1.  Prado then hit an easy pop up to second baseman Clint Barmes for out one.  Ubaldo threw two balls before getting Chipper Jones to swing at a pitch which he fouled off.  On the next pitch Chipper hit an easy fly to left field for out number two.  With the fans standing and the Braves last hope to break up the no hitter, Brian McCann came to bat.  The first pitch was a strike that McCann watched.  He fouled the next pitch.  And the next,  And the next.  Ubaldo then bounced a ball in front of home plate.  Then on the 128^th pitch, Brian McCann hit a grounder between first and second.  Barmes fielded the ball and threw to Todd Helton at first for the final out to complete the historical moment for Ubaldo Jimenez and the Rockies.  Helton was the first to greet 26 year old Jimenez as the rest of the team came running in for the celebration of the no run, no hit, no error game which the Rockies won 4-0.  Jimenez is 3-0 for the year.

           

Brief Bio of Ubaldo Jimenez

Ubaldo was born in Nagua, Dominican Republic on January 22, 1984 to Ubaldo, Sr. and Ramona Jimenez.  The New York Mets wanted to sign Ubaldo when he was just 16 years old, but his parents wanted him to finish high school, so he turn down $20,000 to get him to sign.  He thought about becoming a doctor, but with an arm that could blow away batters, the Rockies came calling.  The Rockies signed him in 2001 when he was 17, with the agreement he could finish high school.  He played in the Dominican Summer League that year.  He began his professional career in the United States in 2002 in Casper, Wyoming playing for the Casper Rockies Rookie team (now called the Casper Ghosts) and went 3-4 in 14 starts.

Bob Feller - 70th Anniversary of Opening Day No Hitter

            April 16, 2010 marks the 70^th anniversary of an event in major league baseball that has not has been matched before or since.  On April 16, 1940 Bob Feller pitched a no hitter on opening day.  It is the only time this has happened in modern day baseball.  Robert William Andrew “Bob” Feller was 21 on opening day in 1940 when the Cleveland Indians played the Chicago White Sox in Chicago at Comiskey Park.  It was a cold, gray day, not the kind of day for a fun baseball game.  After the second inning, Feller decided not to throw any more curves because the weather made gripping the ball too difficult.  It took 2 hours and 24 minutes for Feller and his teammates to finish the game beating the White Sox 1 - 0. 

Feller struggled with his stuff, but that day he managed to pitch the first no hitter of his career.  He struck out 8 batters while walking 5.  The only error in the game was in the second inning when Roy Weatherly mishandled a fly ball, long before the game looked like a no hitter was a possibility.  Cleveland’s scoring came in the fourth inning when left fielder Jeff Heath, who had singled to left, was driven in by catcher Rolie Hemsley’s triple to right. 

In the last inning 14,000 fans watched as Mike Kreevich, Juluis Solters and Luke Appling would come to bat.  Kreevich hit a high fly infield fly to Ray Mack for the first out.  Next, Solters grounded to shortstop Lou Boudreau for the second out.  Sox shortstop Luke Appling would come up to bat next.  He was considered at tough hitter.  After two strikes, Appling fouled 4 pitches.  Appling eventually walked on the 10^th pitch, with Feller admitting later that he threw the last two balls to Appling to put him on intentionally. The next batter would be Taft Wright.  Wright was known to be able hit well against Feller.  Feller threw the first pitch to Wright for a ball.  But on the next pitch Wright swung and drove it to right side of the field.  The ball was to the left of second baseman Ray Mack. Mack dove for the ball, but didn’t make the catch.  He managed to knock it down , pick it up and throw it to first baseman Hal Trosky to make the out by a half step for the final out.  Thus, the game became a piece of baseball history.  Bob enjoyed it even further as his parents and sister where there watching in the stands.  He would go on to pitch three no hitters and 12 one hitters in his storied career.  

How to Collect Sports Cards

Where to Buy Sports Cards

There are several ways to purchase sports cards. You can purchase single cards from either a regular sports cards store or from an online store or auction. Single cards vary in price depending on the player, the player's popularity, the rarity of that particular card (how many were made), and what is on the card. For example a plain card with just the player's picture that is printed in large quantities is called a common card. These cards are the cheapest to buy.  If the card is the player's first major league card, it is called a rookie card.  It is usually worth a little more money that other cards since it is the player's first card. It is worth more still if that rookie player is expected to be a really good player. The next type of card is the parallel. The parallel card usually looks like the common card, but has something different, such as a different color or a different trim around the edge. These cards cost a little more than a player's common card.

A more expensive type of card is the insert.  An insert is a card that has not been produced in such large quantities as a common card.  Some insert cards contain a patch of cloth from a player's jersey or pants which that player wore in a game.  Some inserts have a tiny slice of wood from a bat that player used in a game.  Others might have a piece of a football or helmet or a piece of a basketball or a hockey stick or puck.  These cards are called game worn or game used cards.  The most expensive inserts are usually cards that have been autographed by the player or that have an extremely limited production run of say less than 25 cards.  The better and more popular the player, generally the more these insert cards are worth.  For instance, Joe Smith might be a utility player that only plays an inning or two every three or for games.  His card is not going to be nearly as valuable as Derek Jeter's card.  And a Babe Ruth autograph card will be more valuable yet, because his autographs are rarer.  A card company might have to get Babe Ruth's autograph from an old check or an old letter and attach it to a baseball card.

Another way to buy cards is by purchasing packs in retail stores such as Wal-Mart or Target.  These packs are called retail packs because they are sold in regular retail stores that sell other things besides sports cards.  Stores that specialize in selling sports cards sell packs of cards called hobby packs. These stores can be brick and mortar or online stores. The main difference between the two types of packs are the hobby packs tend to have more inserts, therefore, you have a better chance at getting nicer cards.  Of course, this also means that hobby packs are going to cost a bit more.  You also need to know that some packs come with more cards than other packs.  Some cards may guarantee an autograph in every pack.  These packs will cost more.  Some packs guarantee an autograph or a game used card in every box, so to be assured you got an autograph or game used card you would need to buy a whole box.  You can usually read the back of the packs to see the odds of pulling certain insert cards.  Personnel at a sports card store can help you understand the odds of pulling certain cards from a pack.

You can also buy boxes of cards with a number of packs in them at both retail stores and sport card stores or online.  Since you are buying a whole box you get more packs, so you actually pay less per pack.  Again, boxes with hobby packs will cost more than boxes with retail packs because the odds of getting nicer inserts are better in hobby packs.

So where should you buy cards?  That depends on your purpose for collecting and your financial situation.  If you are just starting out or your youngster is just starting collecting, you can buy retail packs and save money.  This is especially true if you are getting the packs for a young child that will not take care of them properly.  The value of a card is very dependent on its condition.  Also, you cannot buy cards one at a time in a retail store like you can in a sports card store.  The sports card store will also help you by explaining the differences in cards as it can get rather difficult to tell types of cards apart when you are getting seriously into the hobby.  The sports card store will give you the service on cards that you cannot get in a retail store.

What happens if you live in an area that doesn't have a retail store that sells sports cards?  Another good source of cards is on the Internet.  There are stores which charge a fixed price for each card.   There are auction services such as Ebay, where cards are both auctioned and sold at fixed prices.  People all over the world use Internet to buy and sell sports cards.

To find the value of your cards, one of the best sources is Beckett Media.  Beckett has books and magazines on collecting cards in baseball, football, basketball, hockey, auto racing, and multisports.  You can find these books and magazines in libraries, sports card stores, book stores, and retail stores like Wal-Mart, and Target and in some grocery stores.  You can go to their website at www.beckett.com and find more information.  To find prices of cards at their online site, however, you have to pay a subscription fee.

Keeping Your Cards in Great Condition

 If you are ready to turn card buying into a hobby, you need to make sure you keep your collection in great condition.  There are several ways you can store your cards.  Both retail stores and sports card stores sell collecting supplies.  Many people buy sports card albums to keep their cards.  Plastic pages that hold 9 cards on a page are the most common way to keep the cards in these albums.  Never tape or glue you cards to the pages.  If you do the value of you cards will go to practically nothing!  Never put a rubber band around a stack of cards.  This will damage the card and reduce its value.  Don't store them loosely where the edges will get dinged or bent.  You want to keep them in as nice of a condition as possible to keep their value high.  If you don't want to put them in albums, then buy plastic protectors.  Most collectors using this method put an individual card (be careful not to bend the corners as you put it in) into a flimsy plastic protector and store a bunch of cards in a cardboard box made especially for sports cards.  Again, you can get these in sports card stores and on the Internet.  If the card is worth more, more caution is needed.  Very nice cards, or cards worth more money, can be put in the flimsy plastic protector, and then put in a hard plastic case.  Keeping your cards in great condition keeps their value up.