~STORY OF THE WEEK~
ROCKIES ACE THROWS NO-HITTER;FIRST EVER IN FRANCHISE HISTORY
The fastest average fastball in the majors last season (minimum 162 innings) belonged to Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies. According to Bill James, it was 96.1 miles per hour. Jimenez also led the National League in pitches per start, with 108.2 (minimum 30 starts). So it was only fitting that a hard-throwing workhorse like Jimenez would end his no-hitter Saturday with a 97-mile-per-hour fastball on his 128th pitch, tying up Atlanta’s Brian McCann for a grounder to first. It was the first no-hitter in Rockies history, leaving the Mets, the San Diego Padres and the Tampa Bay Rays as the only franchises without one. (The Washington Nationals haven’t thrown one, either, but their Montreal Expos predecessors did.) Jimenez is now 3-0, and the no-hitter should finally raise his national profile. The Rockies have long known he is special. Here’s what their pitching coach, Bob Apodaca, had to say about Jimenez in spring training: “That’s a special athlete. Besides his physical gifts, those are the obvious things, but he wants to be great. And everybody wants to be great, but are you committed to being great? Are you committed to doing everything you can physically and mentally? He does everything possible that can make himself great. Now it’s just Mother Nature finishing its cooking with him.” Consider it done. Ubaldo Jimenez has officially arrived. (Bats Blog)
The fastest average fastball in the majors last season (minimum 162 innings) belonged to Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies. According to Bill James, it was 96.1 miles per hour. Jimenez also led the National League in pitches per start, with 108.2 (minimum 30 starts). So it was only fitting that a hard-throwing workhorse like Jimenez would end his no-hitter Saturday with a 97-mile-per-hour fastball on his 128th pitch, tying up Atlanta’s Brian McCann for a grounder to first. It was the first no-hitter in Rockies history, leaving the Mets, the San Diego Padres and the Tampa Bay Rays as the only franchises without one. (The Washington Nationals haven’t thrown one, either, but their Montreal Expos predecessors did.) Jimenez is now 3-0, and the no-hitter should finally raise his national profile. The Rockies have long known he is special. Here’s what their pitching coach, Bob Apodaca, had to say about Jimenez in spring training: “That’s a special athlete. Besides his physical gifts, those are the obvious things, but he wants to be great. And everybody wants to be great, but are you committed to being great? Are you committed to doing everything you can physically and mentally? He does everything possible that can make himself great. Now it’s just Mother Nature finishing its cooking with him.” Consider it done. Ubaldo Jimenez has officially arrived. (Bats Blog)
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