Jaime Moyer, Baseball's Father Time

For those who have passed their prime in whatever it is that they do but refuse to hang it up just yet, they would tell you that age is just a number. Rockies pitcher Jaime Moyer proved just that on Tuesday night by becoming the oldest player in Major League history to record a win at the age of 49 years and 151 days old, surpassing the previous mark set 80-years ago by Jack Quinn of the Brooklyn Dodgers who won a game at 49-years and 70 days of age. Despite failing to throw a single pitch above the 79 mph mark (87 pitches), Moyer tossed 7 stellar innings while allowing only 6 hits and 2 runs (both unearned) in Colorado's 5-3 victory over the division-rival San Diego Padres. Though Cameron Maybin was Moyer's only strikeout victim of the ballgame against 2 walks, Moyer instead relied on another one of the pitcher's best friend's -- the double-play ball as he induced three twin killing's to help his cause and etch his name into the record books as his wife and kids watched from the stands.

Moyer's magnificent feat which displayed both longevity and perseverance as well as an uncanny love for what he does, would have came days earlier had it not been for a number of costly errors which robbed the lefty from logging a win in either of his first two outings. Back in 1986 when Moyer made his Major League debut with the Chicago Cubs during the Reagan Administration, gas prices were a mere 93 cents a gallon. While the price of gas has since then risen and costs almost $3 more on average today, one thing that hasn't changed is Moyer's will to win. Old enough to be the father of most of his Rockies teammates, the 26-year veteran hasn't let his age stop him from being the most consistent starting pitcher on Colorado's staff thus far, boasting a 2.55 ERA over his first three starts.

What may be an even bigger accomplishment than becoming the oldest pitcher in MLB history to win a game, however, is the road Moyer took to get back onto a big league mound. After missing the entire 2011 season last year due to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery, Moyer signed a Minor League contract with the Rockies before making the team during Spring Training. Tuesday night's victory marked the first win for Moyer since June 27, 2010 and was win no. 268 of his long-lived career which also saw stints with the Cubs, Rangers, Cardinals, Orioles, Mariners and Phillies before eventually coming to the Mile-High City. Having pitched in four different decades which is something only a handful of players in Major League history can brag about doing, it'll be interesting to see if Moyer can continue to pitch the way he has been to start the season. If so, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he makes a return in 2013 in hopes of becoming the league's first ever 50-year old winner.


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Ubaldo Makes Mile-High Hisotry

Jimenez' No-No - With the NFL Draft and a handful of other more significant sporting events going on such as the NBA & NHL Playoffs, not many fans were glued to their television when a Saturday night game took place in Atlanta between the home team Braves and the visiting Colorado Rockies. But little did we know that a baseball game just two weeks and 11-games into the season would steal all the headlines. At least in my book. A rare feat that was overlooked on April 17th, was the no-hitter thrown by Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez. In a 4-0 win over the Braves, the 26-year old Dominican born right-hander who's entering his fifth season in the bigs, threw nine hit-less innings and collected all 27-outs to become the first player to throw a no-hitter in Rockies franchise history.

Capped off by a career high 128 pitches, Ubaldo managed to reach the century mark on the radar gun 3 times during the game and ended up striking out 7 batters while walking 6. 5 of which coming in the first 4 innings. His biggest transformation was made in the fifth inning when he switched from the windup to the stretch delivery. Backed by 4-runs of offensive support including a 2-out RBI single of his own, Jimenez logged the first no-hitter of the 2010 season, less than 20 games in. Although a no-hitter is a no-hitter, those thrown in April often tend to be more forgettable than those thrown in August or down the stretch and in the midst of a pennant race. Something the Rockies are expected to be in come the final month or so of the 2010 season.

Ubaldo's masterful gem finally put the Rockies on the no-hit map, after the team's first 18 seasons without one. It also couldn't have came at a better time, given the franchise is in need of as much motivation as possible after receiving the unfortunate news of it's team president Keli McGregor passing just days earlier. With the Rockies now off the hook in terms of ball clubs who've been yet to throw a no-hitter, only three teams out of the 30 big league ball clubs remain on the list. The New York Mets who lead the pack entering their 49th season, the San Diego Padres in their 42nd and the Tampa Bay Rays who are still young barely in their 13th season. But it's only a matter of time before another franchise is checked off the list. Question is, who will it be?


Don't call Jimenez' stellar performance a fluke either, as he went on to win his next starts by giving up only 3 runs combined. So far this season Jimenez has won all five of his starts, while posting a jaw dropping 0.79 ERA. All numbers that could make for a great Cy Young race within the NL West alone between San Francisco's Tim Lincecum and Arizona's Dan Haren. Sorry L.A. and San Diego.