Background and career
Timothy Leroy Lincecum ( LIN-sə-kum; born June 15, 1984), nicknamed "the Freak", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played ten seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the San Francisco Giants. A two-time Cy Young Award winner, Lincecum won World Series championships in 2010, 2012, and 2014 as a member of the Giants. A graduate of Liberty Senior High School in Renton, Washington, Lincecum played college baseball at the University of Washington, where he won the 2006 Golden Spikes Award. That year, Lincecum became the first Washington Husky to be selected in the first round of an MLB draft when the San Francisco Giants selected him tenth overall. Nicknamed "The Freak" for his ability to generate powerful pitches despite his slight physique (5 feet 11 inches, 170 pounds) and for his unorthodox pitching mechanics, the power pitcher led the National League in strikeouts for three consecutive years in a span from 2008 to 2010. He also led the league in shutouts in 2009 and won the Babe Ruth Award in 2010 as the most valuable player of the MLB postseason. Lincecum won consecutive Cy Young Awards in 2008 and 2009, becoming the first MLB pitcher to win the award in his first two full seasons. He also appeared in four consecutive All-Star Games from 2008 through 2011 and pitched no-hitters in 2013 and 2014. After an injury-plagued 2015 season, he made nine starts for the Los Angeles Angels in 2016. Lincecum returned to baseball in 2018 to sign with the Texas Rangers, but only played for the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate before being released due to injuries.
Timothy Leroy Lincecum was born on June 15, 1984, in Bellevue, Washington. Lincecum's mother, Rebecca Asis, is the daughter of Filipino immigrants. His father, Chris, worked at Boeing and is distantly related by marriage to actress Natalie Wood. From the age of four, Chris helped his son refine his pitching motion, filming his practices and games and analyzing the video. Lincecum attended Liberty Senior High School in Renton, Washington, where he played two seasons of varsity baseball. As a senior, he was named the state's Player of the Year and led his school to the 2003 3A Kingco Athletic Conference title. He was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 48th round (1,408th overall) of the 2003 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft, but he did not sign, opting to attend the University of Washington instead.
In both 2004 and 2006, Lincecum was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year for the Washington Huskies. He was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 42nd round (1,261st overall) upon re-entering the draft in 2005. Again, he did not sign, rejecting an offer including a $700,000 signing bonus as he had been holding out for a larger signing bonus so that his father could retire. He finished 2006 with a 12–4 win–loss record and a 1.94 earned run average (ERA), 199 strikeouts, and three saves in 125+1⁄3 innings. He was the recipient of the 2006 Golden Spikes Award, which is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player. In 2005, Lincecum played collegiate summer baseball for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was named a league all-star for Harwich, and posted a 2–2 record with a league-leading 0.69 ERA, striking out 68 batters in 39 innings.
The San Francisco Giants selected Lincecum with the tenth overall pick in the 2006 MLB draft, becoming the first player from the University of Washington to be taken in the first round. Lincecum's hometown team, the Seattle Mariners, drafted pitcher Brandon Morrow with the fifth overall pick. His $2.025 million signing bonus was, at the time, the most the organization had ever paid to any amateur player. Lincecum made his professional debut in 2006 with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Single-A short season Northwest League. Going into 2007, he was ranked as the #11 prospect in baseball and the #1 prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization by Baseball America. In the spring of 2007, Colorado Rockies prospect Ian Stewart described Lincecum as tough to face, saying "You can't see the ball at all until it's right on top of you. It gets on you real quick...Guys on our club who have been in the big leagues said he's the toughest guy they ever faced too." Lincecum spent the first month of the season pitching for the Fresno Grizzlies, the Giants' Triple-A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). In 31 innings across five starts with the Grizzlies, he allowed just one run, 12 hits, and 11 walks while striking out 46 batters and going 4–0. During his 2006 and 2007 minor league campaigns, Lincecum struck out 30.9% of batters, the highest ratio of any minor league pitcher in the previous ten years.
After starter Russ Ortiz suffered an inflamed elbow, the Giants called Lincecum up to make his first career Major League start on May 6, 2007, at AT&T Park against the Philadelphia Phillies. Lincecum struck out three batters, all swinging, in his first inning, the first being second baseman Chase Utley, followed by future 2010 World Series champion teammates left fielder Pat Burrell and center fielder Aaron Rowand. Lincecum earned his first major league win five days later against the Rockies. His next two starts were against the Houston Astros, on May 17 and 22. After the first match-up, Astros third baseman Mike Lamb said, "The stuff he was throwing out there tonight was everything he's hyped up to be. He was 97 mph (156 km/h) with movement. You just don't see that every day. He pitched very much like the pitcher he is compared to and out-dueled him throughout the night." After recording a no decision in the first game, Lincecum pitched eight innings and got the win the second time. In July, Lincecum went 4–0 with a 1.62 ERA. On July 1, in a seven-inning performance against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he recorded 12 strikeouts and allowed just three hits in a 13–0 victory. Lincecum pitched into the ninth inning for the first time on August 21 against the Cubs, holding a 1–0 lead. He had allowed just two hits and one walk through the first eight, while throwing only 88 pitches. Cubs shortstop and future 2012 World Series champion teammate Ryan Theriot said after the game, "He's got electric stuff. The best stuff I've seen all year." Lincecum was benched in September as a precaution due to the high number of innings he had pitched in his first full year of professional baseball. Between the minors and the majors, he pitched a total of 177+1⁄3 innings in the 2007 season.
The Giants asked Lincecum not to throw bullpen sessions like the ones other pitchers typically throw during the off-season. Bruce Bochy, the manager of the Giants, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the team was being careful with Lincecum because of studies showing that pitchers who throw 200 innings in a season early in their careers are more susceptible to injuries. From April 2 through April 24, Lincecum won his first four decisions of the 2008 season. On May 15, Lincecum struck out 10 Astros in six innings. Houston first baseman Lance Berkman offered his view of Lincecum: "He has three almost unhittable pitches...When he throws those off-speed pitches where he wants, you've got no chance." After his team fell to Lincecum and the Giants 6–3 on May 27, Diamondbacks first baseman Conor Jackson gave his impression of facing Lincecum: "From what I saw tonight, that's the best arm I've seen all year, no doubt. You've got to almost hit a ball right down the middle. You're going to pop up the ball at your bellybutton, which we all did tonight, and the one down, it's coming in at 98 mph (158 km/h), you're not going to put too much good wood on it. Even the ones down the middle are coming at 98. He's good, man."
