Ubaldo finally gets the ball
Garrett Ellwood
The All-Star Game is where baseball’s (supposed) best and brightest get together for a tilt that will determine home-field advantage in the World Series. And had Colorado Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez not been selected to start tonight’s All-Star match in Anaheim, Calif., National League manager Charlie Manuel would have pulled a Lebron James on the people of Colorado: It would have screwed Jimenez and us out of our moment in the sun.
Jimenez has been incredible this season. He’s won 15 games, and has kept a low ERA despite a few shaky starts in the last couple of weeks. The Dominicanator—Woody Paige’s nickname, not mine—was an easy pick for Manuel, but he took so long to make the announcement that it made everyone wonder if he was going to let his East Coast bias come into play and go with someone else.
I will admit, though, that it’s mind-boggling that a Rockies pitcher was even in the running to get the ball to start the midsummer classic. Only five Rockies pitchers have participated in team history, but never in our wildest dreams did we think one would throw the first pitch. But the Rockies have finally been playing great ball, and it’s largely due to Jimenez. Take away half of his 15 wins and the Rox would be playing grab-ass with the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks instead of rubbing elbows with the NL West-leading San Diego Padres. But Jimenez is that good, and had Manuel robbed the fans of this distinction, it would have been doubly horrific: Based on our history of crappy pitching, a starting position on the All-Star team may never happen again.
But there was one person left off the All-Star roster who has been just as instrumental in keeping the team afloat: Carlos Gonzalez. Gonzalez is a clear casualty of the East Coast bias, and I’m convinced that if Jimenez weren’t so fucking good, the Rockies would have no one representing them. His exclusion is an atrocity—he not only leads the Rockies in all offensive categories, but his play carried the team when everyone else was sputtering (and when Ubaldo wasn’t even pitching). Gonzalez is young, and not quite the household name he will be in another year, so it wasn’t surprising that he was overlooked. The All-Star Game is a popularity contest after all—fans pick the bulk of the players—and that typically never bodes well for the provincial Rockies.
Case in point: Troy Tulowitzki got the All-Star nod before getting hurt, but he wasn’t exactly setting the baseball world on fire before he went down. He’s certainly one of the best fielders in the game, but he was off to a slow start and was probably the only Rockies name voters recognized. I guess we should be happy that two Rockies are considered All-Stars, but with the superior Gonzalez sitting at home, it makes you wonder if anyone is really watching this team.
And what happens when he does come back? The team has been on a tear since Tulo went out, and even though he’s top-notch at his position, the way the rest of these guys have been playing, he may be an all-star turd in the Rockies punchbowl on his return. Not a popular opinion among the ravenous Tulo lovers out there I’m sure, but something to look for when the team gets back to work.
Still, we should be excited for Jimenez who deserves every accolade. It’s a huge honor to be picked as a pitcher for the All-Star team, and being the starter even more so. His exclusion would have been the baseball crime of the century.
