Milk Carton All-Star of the Week

Unless you were asleep throughout the weekend, you probably heard that Colorado pitcher Ubaldo Jiminez threw the first no-hitter in Rockies history. So what does that have to do with this week's Milk Carton All-Star of the Week? Well, not much, except that Jiminez's out-of-nowhere no-no brought back memories of another young, up-and-comer who went the distance without giving up a knock. The bright-eyed fellow you see above is former Cardinals pitcher Bud Smith.

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Bud Smith became the 18th rookie to throw a no-no since 1900, blanking the San Diego Padres on September 3, 2001. That day, he threw an astounding 134 pitches, far too high of a workload for a young pitcher. Smith finished 4th in the Rookie of the Year voting in '01, an award that inevitably went to some hoser named Albert Pujols. Smith went 6-3 with a 3.83 ERA that year, and then fell off the face of the Earth. In his sophomore year, Smith embodied the term "sophomore slump", going 1-5 with a 6.94 ERA. Frustrated with Smith's inability to maintain his rookie form, the Cards shipped Smith to Philadelphia along with Placido Polanco and ageless wonder Mike Timlin in exchange for Tony LaRussa's BFF Scott Rolen. Smith never pitched an inning for the Phillies and his major league career was over after just one season.

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Smith also finds himself on here for another reason. Smith made his debut with the St. Louis Cardinals, whom Gabe will be covering for ProSportsBlogging.com at some point this week. Also, the name "Bud" is the name of Russell Crowe's character in "L.A. Confidential". Why is that relevant? "L.A. Confidential" was filmed in Los Angeles(Duh!), where the Dodgers play...and the Dodgers will be covered on ProSportsBlogging.com by.....wait for it...wait for it...wait for it....THIS GUY(Boom! Shameless plugged!)! So check us out on ProSportsBlogging.com this week(though we won't hold it against you if you'd rather stick to following us on BoomRoastedSports).

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In the meantime, let's give a round of applause for this generation's Garrett Stephenson, Bud Smith, everybody!!