No-hitters are never forgotten

[NewsWhore]

In modern baseball history, six Dominican pitchers have thrown no-hit ballgames. Hall of Famer Juan Marichal was the first, pitching for the San Francisco Giants against the Houston Colt 45s in 1963. Then Ramon Martinez took the Los Angeles Dodgers to Miami where he pitched a no-hitter against the Marlins in 1995. Francisco Liriano has been the only lefty to pitch one of these great games, when last May he led the Minnesota Twins over the Chicago White Sox. The Tigres del Licey brought together three more of the men who pitched these gems, all of whom had pitched for Licey in the Dominican Winter Baseball League: Jose Jimenez, Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana. As they recalled that day in their lives when they were writing their names in the Baseball History book, they all remembered almost every detail of the game. Most were unaware of what was happening until the middle of the game, since there is an unwritten rule that not even the announcers mentions the words "no-hitter" until very near the end of the game or until the fateful hit comes about. Team members are trying to be normal and go about doing the same thing as they always do, so as not to break the spell. All three of these young men told El Caribe reporters that when they realized what was going on, they bore down and tried to make it happen. Ubaldo Jimenez, pitching for the Colorado Rockies had not had a very good first half of that game, walking four batters and throwing over 70 pitches in less than five innings. When he realized what was happening he changed his stance and threw from the wind-up position, as if there were men on base! He said he could not throw strikes taking the full wind-up so he just threw fastballs that way. Jose Jimenez, a St. Louis Cardinal, threw his no-hitter against a Hall of Famer, Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks, winning 1-0. His teammates encouraged him to keep up the "shutout" but nobody mentioned the no-hitter! Ervin Santana became the second Dominican this year to throw a no-hitter when he defeated the Cleveland Indians, in Progressive Field, in a no-hit game that lasted just 2:22! All three agreed that intense concentration and confidence in their pitches were the keys.

The standings for the tournament are: <b>Team <b>Win-Loss <b>Average <b>Games behind AGUILAS 18 - 12 .600 -- TOROS 18 - 12 .600 -- TIGRES 16 - 13 .552 1.5 LEONES 13 - 17 .433 5.0 ESTRELLAS 12 - 17 .414 5.5 GIGANTES 12 - 18 .400 6.0 </p>
Tonight's games:

* Santo Domingo, Quisqueya Stadium, 7:30pm - Leones (E. Valdez) vs. Tigres (F. Bueno)
* Julian Javier Stadium, San Francisco de Macoris, 7:30pm - Aguilas ( B. Browning) vs. Gigantes ( J. Capellan)
* Tetelo Vargas Stadium, San Pedro de Macoris, 8pm - Toros (A. Rodriguez vs. Estrellas (H. Sosa)

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