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The Franchise

I know it wasn't conventional, but I'm not too committed one way or the other on Timmy's coming out to pitch the 5th inning.

There WAS something I did notice last night.  To go back to last year, I thought Tim was kind of scared, kind of uncertain, and kind of in shock that major league hitters were hitting him.

Last night was a complete turn around.  It is like he matured 6 years over the Winter.  He was much more confident, much more focused and had none of the whining when a call went against him.  I was really impressed and pleased.  'Gamer' is bullshit, but attitude, especially on the mound, is critical (see, Tomko, B).  I think this is a fantiastic development.

This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.

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I gotta agree with you 100%. Especially after that Loney hit. He looked poised.

Loney's gonna be good. I expect lots of Linc/Cain/Loney matchups for years to come.

Matt Cain, cleanup hitter or starting pitcher?

by cain1rstballothof on Apr 3, 2008 1:05 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

The amazing stat about Loney to me is that last year he hit one homerun in the first half of the season in the minors, and then in the majors the second half of the season he hits 15. Unless he suddenly made friends with Greg Anderson, that's the kind of maturation I am hoping to see from Nate Schierholtz.

Randy Messenger: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!!"

by rxmeister on Apr 4, 2008 5:31 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Nudge nudge wink wink

What's Greg Anderson got to do with anything?

"...say no more!"

Aaron "Swag" Rowand

by victor frankenstein on Apr 4, 2008 7:35 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Great point, Frank. I didn't even think about that lack of fear until you pointed it out. That's a great sign. I also liked his "whatever, dude, I'll be here long after you're gone" expression when Bochy told him he wasn't starting.

No, really, I have updated my blog this year: http://skaldheim.livejournal.com/tag/baseball

by Skaldheim on Apr 3, 2008 1:17 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

One other thing I noticed about Timmy is that after his big strikeout of (suck it) Russell Martin, he didn't do any crazy fist pumps or primal screams. It showed his composure and that he's in the game (since it was far from over). That was cool.

SAVE_US.RAY
Get yer Nattowear

by Natto on Apr 3, 2008 1:28 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Agreed

and you know he wanted to scream or something. I think Kruk even admitted so. This guys is going to be a cold blooded killer. No, a cold blooded Dodger killer. I might pass out now.

"Why you gotta be cardin' my hos?" - Charlie Hayes

by stevieg on Apr 3, 2008 1:49 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Have to admit, slightly turned on by this.

Democracy is lovely but baseball is more mature. BVCE supports Manny Burriss and SF Dugout.

by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Apr 3, 2008 2:55 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Me too. is that wrong?

And Boom Goes the Dynamite

by Andy from DC on Apr 3, 2008 3:09 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Bromance

Democracy is lovely but baseball is more mature. BVCE supports Manny Burriss and SF Dugout.

by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Apr 3, 2008 3:16 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Idolizing the Nuschler Face since April 8, 1986 / GIANTSPACE™ returns!

by SoFa King Mike on Apr 3, 2008 3:25 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I walked right into that. And Its ok.

And Boom Goes the Dynamite

by Andy from DC on Apr 3, 2008 5:07 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

There's definitely nothing wrong with it.

He is Vengeance. He is the Knight. He is Dave Righetti. PRAY TO HIM!

by howtheyscored on Apr 3, 2008 6:17 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

That's what he said!

SAVE_US.RAY
Get yer Nattowear

by Natto on Apr 3, 2008 6:30 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I believe..

That's the first time I've ever read it that way.

The Basil Fawlty Moderating Strategy:
"We could run a nice blog here if we didn't have all these members getting in the way."

by WalrusMan on Apr 3, 2008 11:37 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I think someone found some swagger during preseason like they were supposed to.

Now if he would just tell Durham and Aurilia where said swagger is, we would be golden.

by WilliamVanLandingham on Apr 3, 2008 2:24 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Confident? Focused?

That's just opinion. Where's your science? Where are your facts that show how much more or less confident and focused Lincecum was compared to last year?

I expect your CFORP report on my desk by the end of the day.

2008: My previous assessment may have been overly optimistic.

by EliminateMe on Apr 3, 2008 2:59 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

well, i checked baseball-cube

most people don't know this, but there's an elite double-secret membership level for Gamers™. And double-secret elite Gamer™ membership gives you access to a whole new level of stat geekery, including Confidence and Focus Ratings (CFR).

At any rate, this year Lincecum projects a 1.77CFR, as compared to a 1.21 last year. This increase can be attributed to an additional year of experience in organzied baseball (at the Major League level), his new haircut, and not being mistaken for the batboy (as often).

For reference, Bob Gibson is the all-time career CFR leader at a gaudy 2.12. Kruk's was a respectable 1.41, and Rod Beck's was 1.95.

Billy Hayes: Nine more big-league plate appearances than you.

by delorean on Apr 3, 2008 3:09 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

sweet

dude, you know somebody, somewhere...

by BigO on Apr 3, 2008 4:12 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Last season

Last year I think Tim was amazed when ANYONE hit him -- primarily during that tough stretch in June when he was getting too much of the plate when he did get it over (which wasn't often enough).

Now he is matured to where he realizes that these major league hitters are GOOD -- and that if he leaves the ball up and over the plate, they are going to hit it.

Only the double by Loney, which was TAGGED, was hit hard off Tim last night. His primary problem was control (four walks in four innings), although he threw an acceptable 64% strikes.

And six of Tim's eight non-strikeouts came on the ground.

Since he was a kid (which from the looks of him was up until March) Tim has been focusing on pitching well despite how his team is supporting him.

by sharksrog on Apr 3, 2008 3:30 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I thought he looked like he's beefed up a little bit since last year, as well. The KNBR morning guys were talking about that this morning, too. They also mentioned after seeing him with his shirt off how surprisingly ripped he is.

2008 Giants: A steaming pile of scrap!

by Goofus on Apr 3, 2008 3:39 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

This winter

This winter Tim worked not on putting on weight, but on getting in the best shape possible.

by sharksrog on Apr 3, 2008 4:06 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

And then there's that Greg Anderson guy...

Aaron "Swag" Rowand

by victor frankenstein on Apr 4, 2008 7:38 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Maybe it was hanging with the Cainer?!?

-- Born Yesterday

by thatdog on Apr 3, 2008 3:52 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

screw conventional

I don't know whether it's conventional or not to tell your ace 10 minutes before game time (because the opposing manager had a brainstorm) that he's not making his first start of the year because it's going to rain later and might be "bad" for his arm/career/hairdo/whatever.

It's bad management (and not just bad baseball management) to do that and then, after he DOES pitch (wildly in the first inning) and it DOES rain, to then let him sit for an hour and then run him out again, running whatever risk you were trying to avoid in the first place.

And that's just one dumb thing about pitching decisions last night. Valdez is perfect for two innings on 25 pitches, then sits down? With an off day tomorrow?

Yabu (supposedly the long man) can't go because he's pitched an inning in each of the last two games. Hennessey looked bad on Monday but, again, didn't pitch much and had an off day ahead of him.

There was a lot of pitcher-wasting last night, not just Lincecum. But I've had bosses tell me how important something is for my well-being to get me to go along only to have them tell me the exact opposite shortly thereafter, with basically no reasoning, and it didn't exactly breed respect of their judgment in my eyes.

On the other hand, it's a good thing he stayed in because he had to get a hit (HE had to get a hit) and score the winning run. It's probably more dangerous for him to have to run around the bases than it is to have him warm up and cool down a couple of times. And as you say he settled down a lot after the first inning.

So, nice to have one in the win column, but a bit depressing that the game that was comparatively well-played by the players is obscured by this strange decision-making about the pitchers.

by natteringnabob on Apr 3, 2008 7:01 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

2-1

I'm uncommitted about putting Tim back in after the delay, too. Without him would we have had that game-winning run?

Adopted son Notgardo tearing up Spring Training ... that's tearing as in tears. Make mama proud!

by tk on Apr 3, 2008 7:13 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Wins are going to be far and few between for this team, and I guess they're going to play close games like the season is on the line. Even their own website has no faith in the team. I don't know if they fixed it today, but yesterday morning it was saying on the schedule Giants (0-3) against Milwaukee (2-0) on Friday. I guess they went to bed early and assumed they would lose once again.

Randy Messenger: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!!"

by rxmeister on Apr 4, 2008 5:37 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

He's gonna be sooo good

I can't wait. Timmy Franchise!!!!!!

Check out my baseball preview breakdown if you get a chance, it's good, I promise: www.dantheman85x.blogspot.com

by dantheman85x on Apr 4, 2008 5:44 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

By the way, you can stop pimping your website now.

SAVE_US.RAY
Get yer Nattowear

by Natto on Apr 4, 2008 6:07 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Timmy Franchise?

That's the kind of nickname only somebody who created their account today apparently just to get blog hits would give him.

He is Vengeance. He is the Knight. He is Dave Righetti. PRAY TO HIM!

by howtheyscored on Apr 4, 2008 7:22 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

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