Dodging A Bullet

On Friday night, sitting in the Coors Field press box with Ed Henderson, the Rockies stopped the Blue Jays 5-3 in a game shortened to 6-innings by rain.
Hendu said it was the worst conditions he's seen a game played in at Coors Field. Andy Cornell, sitting with us, agreed. But he liked it. "Good that they're playing, just like football." I'm still working on him.
Ubaldo Jimenez got the win, running his record to 12-1 although he was actually human, giving up 3 runs.
I'm sure the reason Jimenez wasn't as dominating as he has been is the weather. They shouldn't have played the game. The conditions were awful and one slip on a pitch could have had dire consequences. I'm sure Jim Tracy was holding his breath that Ubaldo didn't hurt himself.
I think back to a pitcher I faced in high school and in summer leagues named Jim Rooney from North Rockland High in New York. A left-handed pitcher, he threw gas. He hit me in the ribs one day and the black and blue mark lasted two weeks.
Rooney was drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Orioles in 1981. He spent 5-seasons in the minors. The reason he never made it to the Major Leagues is because one rainy night, he slipped on the mound while throwing a pitch, hurt his arm and was never the same again.
Rooney is now a scout in the Brewers organization.
I was thinking about Jim Rooney when I was watching Ubaldo Jimenez throw in the rain on a slick mound at Coors Field Friday night.