I thought both he and Tim made mistakes on that play (which incidentally, I would have scored as an error on Tim - for not covering, although I realize that is almost never done - or as a fielder’s choice, since had John not had to figure out which base to make a play at, he could easily have retired the runner at first base).

You are right on the money that John had a lot of possible options on that play—and he DID make a nice play on the ball to begin the situation. But that is precisely the type of play one has to think about in advance (which John probably will do when he gets more experience), so that one doesn’t get caught mid-decision as John did.

As for Tim, he did break toward first base—but I think he may have stopped when it appeared John might throw home, so that he wouldn’t get in the way of, and possibly killed by, the throw home. Still, a great player such as Tim should be able to slow down, then accelerate again when it was clear John was going to make a play at first.

Don’t know if Tim could have gotten there in time if he DID stop to avoid a throw home, but he should have at least gotten closer to the bag to see if he could help.

A question I would ask. Bowker wasn’t known for his outfield defense, and particularly before his breakout 2007 season at Connecticut it would seem to me that his best value to the Giants might have appeared to be as a utility player. Especially with his being left-handed, shouldn’t they have given him some work at first base in the minors—during batting or infield practice if nothing else?

If I were a young player trying like crazy to MAKE the major leagues, I would want them to play me everywhere, so as to maximize my chances of making it.

I don’t know that Tim will be a great player over the course of his career (although I believe he will be). All I know is that he is a great player right now.

He wasn’t a great player last season (other than at Fresno), although he was an extremely promising one whose FIP was nearly half a run lower than is actual ERA, but he’s been a great player thus far in 2008.

I understand what you’re saying, and I think we’re merely talking semantics here.

In my mind I would have said Tim had had a great career if I felt he had had a truly great career, while in your mind I should have said he was pitcher with great promise who had gotten off to an exceptional start.

A rose is a rose is a rose. And Tim smells pretty sweet right about now. I’m not sure about this, but has any SF Giants starting pitcher ever gotten off to such a great start in his first, as you point out, 296 innings in the bigs? Has any other Giants pitcher in history ever struck out 300 batters in his first 300 innings?

Has any other SF Giants pitcher had a 130 career ERA+ after his first 296 innings? (Juan Marichal’s career ERA+ was 123, and Gaylord Perry’s was 117.) Has any other SF Giants starting pitcher had a 158 ERA+ as of August 1st of his second season? Has any other SF Giants pitcher ever been leading the major leagues in strikeouts as of that date?

I guess the point I hadn’t really seen clearly before your woke me up is that to this point in his career, Tim Lincecum has been the best pitcher in SF Giants history. After I first saw him pitch, I predicted he would become the greatest pitcher in SF Giants for his career—and that is certainly far, far from being the case yet. But would anyone argue that he has been the greatest pitcher in SF history AT THIS POINT in his career?

It’s just 300 innings, but what a 300 innings (296, actually). Christy Mathewson is the greatest right-hander in Giants history (and probably one of the top five pitchers ever), and King Carl Hubbell is their greatest southpaw. At this point in his career, Tim is in the same ballpark those two guys were after about 300 innings.

Tim has many more strikeouts than either of those guys after 300 innings (especially more than Hubbell, who would go to strike out something like six straight All-Stars in an early All-Star game, with most of the guys he struck out eventually making the Hall of Fame).

But the game has changed a lot, and pitchers strike out many more batters now. I was actually going to give Mathewson a slight edge in strikeouts at this point in their respective careers, as I was quite impressed with his 221 strikeouts in his second season. But I see that Christy ranked “only” 4th in the National League in strikeouts in his second season (and first full season) of 1901, while Tim is presently leading the entire major leagues in whiffs.

Christy was only 20 when that second season opened, while Tim was 23. Carl, who struck out 106 in his second season, began the year at age 25.

Tim is clearly on a Hall of Fame pace. Only time will tell if he is able to keep it up. But, yes, Tim has been great so far. His 130 career ERA+ is exactly equal to Hubbell’s 130 career mark, and within shouting distance of Mathewson’s 135.

Tim doesn’t really have to improve to become a Hall of Famer. He just needs to keep up his present pace for another 13 years or so. It would help his case, of course, if the Giants could actually get some wins for him, but if he keeps pitching as he has, by 2012 the wins should start flowing like fine wine.

When I wrote that Tim was a “great player,” I really meant (and should have said) “great athlete.” But upon further review, Tim HAS been a great player thus far. I knew it to be true, but thanks for bringing it more fully to my consciousness.

By the way, an indication of how the game has changed in a century and also of how great a pitcher Christy Mathewson truly WAS is that in 4780 career innings, Christy yielded only 91 home runs. Tim has done a better job of avoiding home runs than even I predicted, but if he somehow lasted 4780 innings and yielded homers at his present pace, he would give up about 320 round trippers.

Heck, Roger Clemens is probably a top 10 all-time pitcher, and almost certainly a top-20 guy, and he has given up 363 home runs in 4185 innings. If he had reached Christy’s 4780 innings, he almost certainly would have hit 400 homers yielded. Greg Maddux has given up 346 homers in 4949 innings, while Randy Johnson has yielded 383 in 3973 innings and Pedro Martinez has given up 224 in 2723 frames.

I hadn’t realized it until just now, but Tim has actually done a better job of avoiding homers (thus far) than the four greatest starting pitchers in the game today. Like the other four, he doesn’t give up many hits.

He fits in with Johnson, Martinez and Clemens as a strikeout king, but certainly doesn’t have the control of Clemens, Maddux or Martinez—although amazingly even with his control problems of last season, he had a lower walk rate than did EITHER Maddux or Martinez in his first year. Amazingly, Tim’s control in his first season was better than any of these four greats a generation ahead of him, with the lone exception of Clemens.

I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Tim Lincecum yet. But what we HAVE seen thus far has been historically good.