Two Perfect Games In 2010 --- By A Relative Unknown and an Established Veteran

The month of May has truly been terrific for two major league pitchers of very different histories. One, Dallas Braden of the Oakland A's, has been up and down from the majors in relative obscurity for the past 4 seasons, while Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies has been an established All-Star for many of his 13 year career.

Yet 20 days apart, each hurler was spotless for one game...a perfect game. Twenty-seven batter to the plate, zero batters reaching base --- truly the art of perfection.

Also, these are two of the most different styles of pitchers in the game. Braden, who's claim to fame was criticizing Alex Rodriguez for running over the mound while he was pitching, has one of the slowest fastballs in baseball topping out at around 87 mph. To offset the lack of velocity, Dallas throws a changeup at about 72 mph to keep hitters of balance. Halladay, on the other hand, throws a varied arsenal of pitches that include a heater in the low 90's mph range, a back straightening curveball, an above average changeup, a cut fastball, and a marvelous sinker. Truly a master at his craft.

Even the perfect games were a bit different. Dallas' perfect gem came against the Tampa Bay Rays, baseball's best at the time and a great hitting team. Braden had a mere 6 strikeouts but kept the Rays off balance the entire game with his changeup. 'Doc' used his array of pitches against a free swinging Florida Marlins squad to whiff 11 batters.

The final difference I will note is that this was Braden's first brush with either a no-hitter or perfect game while Halladay nearly threw a no-hitter in his second big league start as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. In that game, Roy went 8 2/3 hitless innings against the Detroit Tigers on Sept. 27, 1998 before Bobby Higginson hit a pinch-hit home run.

Two pitchers, two different styles, one result...a perfect game, done only twenty times in major league history. That is what memories are made of.

Thank you Dallas and Roy.

Dick

Send email to dlafrance2@207me.com

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Ubaldo Jimenez – Rocky Mountain Ace

The Colorado Rockies have had a slow start to the 2010 season. Hovering around .500, The team has actually done quite well considering they have no closer to speak of and hitting that hasn't been Rockie like. But one thing is certain --- Colorado has perhaps the best young starting pitcher in the game, who is still honing his craft.

I speak of 26 year old Ubaldo Jimenez.

The Dominican born and bred right-hander has had an unbelievable start to the current campaign. At 8 wins to 1 loss and a ridiculously minuscule 0.99 ERA, Jimenez already has a no-hitter to his credit versus Atlanta on April 17th. Thanks to a near 100-mph fastball, a 90-mph split finger pitch, and a knee buckling curve, Ubaldo has only allowed 36 hits and 23 walks in 63.1 innings. While his walk rate is a little high (3.4 per 9 innings), that has improved from his rookie season of 2008 (4.7 per 9 innings) and strikeout rate has remained at a tad over 8 over 9 innings. On top of that, hitters are hitting a measly .184 against him.

To put into perspective of how Jimenez has made himself a dominating big league pitcher, he has gone at least 6 innings per start in 37 of his last 38 games and since since August 1st of last season, sports a 16-4 record with an ERA of just over 2.00 --- truly remarkable in today's game.

With the season at the quarter pole, Jimenez has put himself in the company of Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay and San Francisco treat Tim Lincecum as an early favorite in the National League Cy Young race. With his current start to the year, Ubaldo has put himself in rare company as being one of only three pitchers in the modern era to have won eight of their first nine starts and post a sub-1.00 ERA.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, The others were Juan Marichal with the San Francisco Giants in 1966 (8-0, 0.69) and Fernando Valenzuela with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981 (8-1, 0.91).

Barring injury, Ubaldo Jimenez should dominate hitters for many years to come.

Dick

Send email to dlafrance2@207me.com

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