Giants fans had been waiting since the end of spring training for their team to recall top prospect Buster Posey from Triple-A Fresno. The club teased fans by announcing that Posey had a shot to make the big league club in the spring, then pulled the chair out from under them at the last second while sending him back to the minors. (And laughing the entire time.)
“Ha, ha! Posey isn’t going to make the team, idiots. Now go watch Eugenio Velez play everyday…and lead off.”
But then on May 29, the impossible happened: the Giants actually called Posey up from the minors. Better yet, he delivered.
He went 3-for-4 with three RBI in a win over the Diamondbacks on Saturday night and then chipped in three more hits (including a pair of doubles) and an RBI in the Giants’ win over Arizona on Sunday. His two extra base hits allowed San Fran to stay in a game they probably would have otherwise lost. He provided a spark to their offense that has been missing all season.
When your run-of-the-mill starting pitcher suffers back-to-back poor outings, the media assumes he’s in a funk and usually nothing more is made out of it. But when the defending two-time Cy Young award winner suffers back-to-back poor outings, the media goes into a Mountain Dew-mixed-with-cocaine-like frenzy and poses questions such as: What’s wrong with Tim Lincecum? What’s wrong with Tim Lincecum! What’s wrong with Tiqiowehgoiwgh….
After giving up six runs in 4 2/3 innings on Wednesday night in a loss to the Nationals, all the talk in San Francisco yesterday was about Lincecum’s struggles. He also pitched poorly in a no-decision against the Diamondbacks in the start prior to his outing on Wednesday and has now walked five batters in each of his last three games after walking just 10 in his first seven starts combined. He has routinely fallen behind hitters early in counts and his main issue has been control.
But before this becomes national news, remember that Lincecum held the Astros to one run over eight innings on May 15 and also struck out 13 Marlins while walking just one on May 4. It’s not like he’s been in a season-long funk and the Giants have this huge crisis on their hands; he just needs to figure out what has ailed him over these last two games.
I’m not Dave Righetti, but it appears as though Lincecum’s struggles are mental. Early in the game Wednesday night against the Nationals, he allowed a runner a free 90 feet when he couldn’t handle the throw back from first baseman Aubrey Huff following a pickoff attempt. Those things happen when a player isn’t focused and it seems as though Lincecum’s struggles are getting inside his head and he’s pressing. The more an athlete fights his struggles, the more his struggles consume him and in my non-professional opinion, I think that’s what’s happening to Lincecum. Maybe he also has a small mechanical issue that Righetti can iron out, but it seems as if he’s suffering from lack of confidence more than anything else. (Not that he doesn’t have confidence, but maybe the seed of doubt has been planted in his head.)
Another underlining issue is the fact that the Giants paid him this past offseason (two years, $23 million), so now he has to deal with the pressures of trying to live up to a contract. If there’s one person that knows about that it’s Lincecum’s teammate and good friend, Barry Zito, who signed a $126 million contract with the Giants in 2007. Zito is living proof that the pressures of a contract can eat away at a player.
When things start to go badly for an athlete, he never feels like he’ll find success again. But Lincecum is an elite pitcher and it’s because he’s so good that people have already started hitting the panic button after two bad outings. During a 162-game season, the media has to talk about something and it has latched onto Lincecum after Wednesday night.
But he’ll be fine – everyone goes through these rough patches. Even two-time Cy Young winners.
To be fair, I do think ESPN SportsCenter did go over the line in its portrayal of Molina in that situation. If Bristol was going to air such a clip, it should’ve been on SportsNation or Jim Rome is Burning. Not in the context of objective news coverage.
Look, you can say I’m the slowest guy in baseball or in all of sports or in the entire world. I don’t take issue with that because I AM the slowest guy. I have always been the slowest guy. I can’t challenge that criticism. But ESPN’s intention was not to criticize but to humiliate.
I take what I do very seriously, which is why – despite my obvious lack of speed – I have managed to play in the major leagues for 11 seasons. I play hard. I play hurt. I respect the game, my teammates, the press, the fans. That’s how I was raised. It was the No. 1 thing.
I know I’m a public figure and I just have to take my lumps. But I would like those people at ESPN who, from a safe distance, make fun of players for a cheap laugh, to remember that players are actual people.
A big part of me thinks that Molina should develop some thicker skin. I don’t think ESPN was trying to humiliate him with the clip. I think they were making light of something that everyone already knows — Bengie Molina is slow. ESPN would have been better served had they highlighted a good play or two that Molina made to help the Giants win, but this clip was no different than the “Not Top 10” that SportsCenter runs regularly. No one sad that Molina didn’t hustle to try to score, but it was funny to see him thrown out given the lead he had on the ball. He should just shrug his shoulders and laugh it off.
In the end, SportsCenter is entertainment. Yes, there is serious sports discussion and analysis, but part of what has made SportsCenter great over the years is the show’s sense of humor. I think making light of someone’s foot speed (with regard to an athletic contest) is well within the limits of good taste. They should just take the time to highlight some of Molina’s good plays as well. He’s a long-time MLB catcher for a reason.
Giants fans have spent three agonizing years watching Barry Zito ruin perfectly pleasant nights in San Francisco with his horrid pitching. It has been enough to make them want to break his guitar over the back of his head and dump his body on Alcatraz Island.
But this year, he’s finally giving them a reason to chant “Barry, Barry, Barry!” again without fear of the steroid gods judging them.
Heading into last year’s All-Star break, Zito owned a 24-36 record, with a 4.47 ERA through his first 77 starts in a Giants uniform. Considering he signed a seven-year, $126 million contract in 2006, it’s safe to say that San Francisco wasn’t getting its money out of the lefty.
But since that point, Zito has compiled a 2.38 ERA in 21 starts. In the second half last season, he was a respectable third starter behind Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. This year, he’s gone from being respectable to being the pitcher the Giants thought they had signed back in ’06.
After picking up another win in a masterful performance against the Marlins on Wednesday night, Zito is now 5-0 with a 1.49 ERA. Skeptics will point out that his fastball still doesn’t have much life to it, but it’s hard to argue that his curve and change aren’t weapons of mass destruction again. More importantly, he seems to be pitching without the burden of the contract weighing him down. He’s been a much smarter pitcher in his last 21 starts than he’s ever been at any point during his time in San Fran.
Chances are that Zito will never live up to his contract. Fans are just going to have to learn to bite down and swallow hard on that bitter pill. But at least to this point, they can take solace in that he has found a way to turn back the clock and has helped the Giants get off to a good start in the NL West. In Lincecum, Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and now a resurrected Zito, the G-Men arguably have the best 1-4 in baseball. And if they continue to get quality outings from their $126 million man, it won’t be long before they’re snapping their six-year playoff drought.
The kid has already earned two Cy Young Awards in his first three years in the league, but Tim Lincecum just can’t figure out the right message for his personalized greeting.
I love when he goes, “The franchise? That’s arrogant.” Then follows it up with, “Hey, this is the Freaky Franchise…”
