Sunday, June 1, 2008

Consistently Tim


"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" - Ralph Waldo Emerson.




I hope it is not boring to be consistent. I always get up at the same time, walk the dog the same place, vote Democratic...you get the idea. Hell, I am just about the most consistent Giants fan that you will ever meet. I always felt that being consistent was a sign of strength. Ol' Ralph does not seem to agree.


The level of consistency that Tim Lincecum brings to the Giants is most definitely a team strength (is there another one?). Tim's gutsy and, somewhat artless, performance continues his streak of quality starts. We have won 9 of the last 12 Lincecum outings, including the last six. Seven starts after losses are all victories. That was his thirteenth straight quality start. You all know the numbers. Tim clearly wasn't his dominant self, yet the only run came from a bases loaded walk by a reliever. Tim seems like our only pitcher that gets tougher when men are on base. If he is a hobgoblin, then I want a team full. (He was a Spiderman foe, right?)


So, I guess this consistency thing, a real sticky point among my crowd, comes down to the definition of "foolish." What is "wise" consistency? Consistency in baseball can't always be good, can it? Tim's type: wise. Sabean's type: foolish. A Giants' fan type: ????


Who was the most consistent Giant you remember? Was it "wise" or "foolish" consistency?

5 comments:

M.C. O'Connor said...

How about Darrell Evans? Mr. Consistency. EVERY game he played he:

1. hit a pop-up
2. got a walk or struck out
3. struck out or got a walk
4. got a line-drive hit or warning-track flyball out
5. got a warning-track flyball out or got a line-drive hit
6. NEVER, EVER hit the ball on the ground
7. NEVER, EVER hit the ball on the ground

Weekly he had an XBH or two. 1.5 TB every game, 15 TB for every 10 GP, like clockwork. Plus, he never got hurt. And a tough play at 3B clanked off his glove every homestand.

Mr. Consistency.

Anonymous said...

Rick Reuschel is my pick - he was never of little anything. SIR

JC Parsons said...

My first choice: Jim Barr. Ol' number 33. It seemed like every outing was about 6 innings and 3 runs. Nothing great, but you could sure count on it.
Does baseball consistency equal boring?

Anonymous said...

Brother Bob:
(having another Google Identity Crisis)
I woke up yesterday morning and said to myself "I could actually GO to the game today,"- so I did. Bought and printed tickets online, foolishly worried about a sellout. Took my 13 year-old daughter and her mother. We had a great time. The seat were in the back row of the arcade, near the cable car. I liked them. You can't see anything in deep right field, but almost nothing was hit there, except for Lewis's triple. I was going "Hit it here Fred," and he did! just not far enough. I looked at the highlight clip of that when I got home and I'm pretty sure I could see myself- I was wearing my black Giants windbreaker, and there were 2 long black arms sticking straight up in the back row. Probably me. (I'm sure y'all remember the video from the "Brenly" game. That was the best ever. Were we all there? Plus Frank of course?)
Ballpark impressions:
I gotta affirm that it's nicer with non-sellouts. Shorter lines, easier egress, etc... Perfect weather- a cool breeze, not too much but enough to let you know it's SF baseball... Lunch was perfect- Garlic Fries and beer and nothing else (Maggie had a Sprite)... After Rowand's homer we got spritzed by the water cannons...Also, our seats were bleachers, with plenty of vacancies, so we could spread out, and when I felt like stretching my legs I just hopped up and over to the rail to look down at McCovey Cove...The wind was blowing straight out and Tim gave up lots of fly balls. There was potential for more homers, but as it was I got a good look at Rowand in center. He's a good one, my friends...

Anonymous said...

In answer to the question of the day: I would say Armando Benitez and Ricky Ledee were consistent. On the positive side, Woody comes to mind, as does Jeff Kent, and, oh hell what was the name of that left fielder we had, it seems like a long time ago? Benny Brown or something like that?