Oh wait..,
Ubaldo Jimenez is our hero
Troy Renck reports of the emotional Jimenez's calls to his parents in Denver and the Dominican after the game and the celebration around the clubhouse.
Tracy Ringolsby writes that Jimenez's day after the no hitter presumably started earlier than mine, with a 7am wake up call and a one hour run in before he gets to the park today. Ringolsby also tweets that this was the first no-no for the team that he's covering he's been witness to in 34 years, despite reporting for the Rangers during the Nolan Ryan years.
ESPN had a phone interview with Jimenez where we hear him credit Apodaca for making the switch to the stretch that saved his pitch count and likely made the no hitter possible.
"Wow"
What also made it possible was Dexter Fowler's amazing catch on a Troy Glaus line drive in the seventh.
Thomas Harding's take on the play, with the video embedded at MLB.com.
Troy Renck also has a story with some of the same quotes, but also includes catcher Miguel Olivo's amazing pre-game prediction to coach Apodaca.
Fowler's catch in particular and the no-hitter surrounding it was also ESPN"s SportsCenter highlight of the night, a nice feat given that two major professional sports are in their playoffs.
What it means:
When some pitchers throw no-hitters, the reaction is: "This is baseball; anything can happen."
But when other pitchers throw no-hitters, the reaction is: "This could happen again."
For Jimenez, as Bauman suggests, it puts him at or near the top of a short list of pitchers that Cy Young voters are looking at right now. There is still a lot of season left, clearly, but this is a big step forward and I'm guessing at the very least, Jimenez will be in Anaheim for the All-Star game in July.
For the Rockies this is an event that wakes up another section of fans in the Denver area (and nationwide) and reinforces the notion that many of us already have that this is going to be a special summer for the team. There's going to be a ticket sales boost starting with the next homestand, I'm guessing, particularly for Jimenez's starts. This, of course, adds to the value the Rockies are getting from the contract extension they signed their ace to after the 2008 season.
It's hard to overstate the importance of last night's game for the franchise, for Jimenez and for us fans. Thanks, Ubaldo.