Jimenez V. Lincecum Where is the Recognition?

Yesterday, 8/24/09 Jimenez and Lincecum did battle at Coors Field. This match up was nothing short of what it was advertised to be, both pitchers went out and threw their good stuff. As we have become accustomed to in the month of August Ubaldo Jimenez came out with a win putting him at 12-9 on the season. He allowed 6 hits and 2 runs in 8 innings of work and lowered his season ERA to 3.79. This isn't anything new, this guy has been doing this all season, he has earned the right to be called one of the best in baseball yet for some reason he doesn't get that respect from the writers across the country. This guy throws in the upper 90s for no matter what inning it is, not only is his fastball something special due to this high velocity and movement it gets as it crosses the plate, Jimenez has 4 more pitches in his arsenal, a knee bending curve ball, a money slider, a ridiculous change up and his newly acquired split finger fastball. Everyone of these pitches is a quality pitch it isn't like he has to rely on one or the other he can throw them all for effective strikes. So please someone explain to me how Sunday night after Jimenez out dueled Lincecum analysts on ESPN can say that it wasn't Jimenez and the Rockies that beat Tim "The Freak Show" Lincecum and the wavering Giants, but rather that the Lincecum and the Giants beat themselves. What is it going to take for the Mile High Boys to get some recognition? Since the begining of the Jim Tracy era, the Rockies have climbed their way out of an almost season ending spin where at one time they were competing with the Padres for last place in the NL West. Now here we are in August and the first place Dodgers are looking over their shoulder at the rapidly approaching Colorado Rockies. When are the boys in Colorado going to earn some National Recognition and if not as an entire team someone put Ubaldo Jimenez in the National Spotlight. He deserves to be in the same conversation as a Roy Halladay, Josh Beckett, and CC Sabathia, Players across the league view him as being on the same level, now its time for writers to step up to the plate and quit making excuses for the facts!

J. Bong