Lincecum mellow following no-hitter
After 148 pitches, Giant low key abouthis pitching gem
SAN DIEGO Tim Lincecum walked into the San Francisco Giants’ clubhouse late Sunday morning and, yes, his right arm was still attached to his body.
That was no small matter, considering that Lincecum threw 148 pitches in his first career no-hitter Saturday night. The Freak, indeed. While he was still trying to put his no-hitter into perspective, Lincecum said his arm was OK after his incredible effort in the San Francisco Giants’ 9-0 victory against the last-place San Diego Padres.
“I haven’t played catch yet but right now I feel good,” he said, sitting in the dugout an hour before the defending World Series champion Giants tried for a fourgame sweep.
Lincecum looks different now that he’s cut his long hair, and he doesn’t throw quite as hard as he used to. One thing hasn’t changed, though. Lincecum has never iced his arm after starts, including his 148-pitch performance.
It turns out there was no ice of any kind Saturday night.
“Not even in the drinks that I didn’t have last night,” he said with a laugh.
“I said to him, ‘One time, can you ice it?’ ” manager Bruce Bochy recalled.
Lincecum, a two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, said he had a low-key celebration. He spoke by phone with his father and spent time with his girlfriend and his two dogs. He said he didn’t get to sleep until around 3:30 a.m.
“I woke up today, so I’m good,” he said.
Lincecum said his family and friends “get more excited than I do just because it’s hard for me to kind of realize and take in what’s going on.
“It kind of goes back to what my dad tells me: Don’t get too excited about the good stuff and don’t get too down about the bad stuff,” he added. “I’m trying to hover in the middle, and it could be the plague of me right now. I’m not really finding a way to enjoy this, I guess. But being able to share it with my family and friends was the best part.”
There was still a buzz in the Giants’ clubhouse, where 12 hours earlier Lincecum was doused with champagne.
“Timmy!” one teammate hollered when Lincecum walked in, wearing a beanie and glasses. Another Giants player gave the slightly built pitcher grief about the fanny pack he was wearing. “It’s momentum. It’s exciting,” said right fielder Hunter Pence, whose sensational diving catch of Alexi Amarista’s sinking liner in the eighth inning preserved the no-no.
Pitching coach Dave Righetti — who threw a no-hitter for the New York Yankees on July 4, 1983, a year before Lincecum was born — said the Freak’s pitch count became an issue in the sixth inning. “The only way he was staying in was if he didn’t give up a hit,” Righetti said.
“He wanted it. You could tell. He was definitely in his zone, so to speak,” Righetti said.
“It goes without saying how badly a guy wants it when it’s going like that,” Lincecum said. “You just hope they give you a leash to do so and you do so with the slack that you’re given. I think it just turns into an internal focus and you try to take advantage of the pitches you have left and you know that every pitch that you throw is that much more worrisome, I’m pretty sure.”
Bochy said he was impressed with how Lincecum got locked in when he had thrown about 100 pitches.
“Sure, that’s a lot of pitches, but there’s days when a guy gets in a groove, he’s not putting a lot of effort in it and you let the dog run. ... There’s no way I could have taken that kid out,” Bochy said. “First of all, he probably wouldn’t have talked to me the rest of the season. But he was still going strong.”
Lincecum struck out 13, walked four and hit a batter.
He struggled this year and last, although he’s also been plagued this season by poor run support.