The Franchise

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Maybe it was hanging with the Cainer?!?

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.

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

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.

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