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.