Lincecum seeking light to get out of the tunnel
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Wherever he pitches, Tim Lincecum looks for the radar readings after many of his fastballs, hoping to see 92 mph pop up on some horizontal scoreboard somewhere.
“That’s the kind of thing that puts a trigger in my head,” he said this week. “It hits like a light and it says, ‘Hey, there’s promise. There’s potential. It’s still in there.’ ”
When he was a 23-yearold rookie sensation in San Francisco, Lincecum once fired a fastball 99.9 mph. Nine years later, his goal is lower. But he couldn’t once touch 89 in his last and his earned-run average is 8.70 as an Angel.
“It’s tough, because you have games when you’re throwing 84-87, and you prepared the same way as games when you’re throwing 88-91,” Lincecum said. “And it’s even on pitches where I’m not trying as hard as other pitches, when I throw my hardest and it’s coming out like doo-doo.”
Lincecum does not know exactly what all is ailing him. He still believes it is something fixable by work and time, in tandem.
What has not changed is his demeanor. Over his five weeks with the team, Lincecum’s teammates have remarked on the rarity he presents: a continually smiling, frequently encouraging former star.
“He has a naturally positive attitude, which is I think what every great player has,” closer Huston Street said. “But he’s also extremely competitive, and a lot of times when you’re competitive and you’re not getting the results you want, you turn bitter. He hasn’t.”
When he won the National League Cy Young Award in consecutive seasons, Lincecum went from Bay Area cult hero to fleshed-out superstar, mostly because he seemed to generally behave like a normal, humorous human. He retained those traits during his decline phase as a Giant, and, now, as an Angel.
“Most everybody here has more personality than they let on,” Street said. “Guys are guarded because that same personality, everyone will hold it against you if you just have a bad six weeks and let the team down. Everyone will be like, ‘Dude, I’m so tired of his act.’ “We love his act.” Even in the face of failure, Lincecum hops and jumps around the Angels’ clubhouse. He watches his teammates play cards intently. He jokes about their fashion sense. After 10 months away from the routine of major league baseball, he is happy to be back, for however long he can stay.
“You try to enjoy parts of the game that you didn’t necessarily enjoy earlier in your career,” he said. “You get stuck with one team for so long that it’s hard to believe you’re ever going to fit in with another. I’ve been pleasantly surprised, not because I thought the guys were going to be negative or anything, but I thought the way I’d handle it would be different. I’ve surprised myself in that regard.”
Short hops
Gregorio Petit started in left field for the Angels on Wednesday, his first start in the outfield in his 1,296th professional game. … The Angels have a going-away gift ready for Boston designated hitter David Ortiz, who will play his final series in Anaheim this weekend.