Tim Lincecum's first All-Star appearance was not exactly awe-inspiring. After two innings and 35 pitches, Tim had given up 2 runs (1 earned) on two hits. He may have been nervous because even though he got ahead 1-2 to the first two batters, he made TERRIBLE pitches: a high changeup that Ichiro singled and a ?? that hit Jeter. Ugly. However, Tim did what we have seen quite often. He bore down and made great pitches that should have gotten him out of the jam. Too bad great pitches aren't always enough. David Wright and Albert Pujols butchered up double play balls and Tim, himself, contributed some questionable defense. Luckily, Lincecum's battery mate, Molina ( the new improved clone of Bengie ) got him off the hook for the inevitable NL loss with a clutch hit. No doubt he would have settled in and sliced through them( he needed 13 pitches for a perfect second inning ) if he was given more time. Oh well, no damage done, but no real glory gained.
Did anyone else feel like the NL was playing like the Giants? Except, of course, we would not have made the errors. That game felt like alot of ours; fast, short, low scoring, few hits, good pitching, runs scored by outs rather than homers. I keep telling any body that will still listen that baseball is going into a new low scoring era and that the Giants are going to be standard bearers for this new age. I kind of feel vindicated after watching that game. Hope everybody likes pitcher's duels.
10 comments:
Not the coming out party for Timmy that I was hoping for. Would have loved to have seen Pablo come off the bench late in the game. Oh, well, no home field advantage for our guys this October.
Why don't they just declare permanent home field advantage for the AL and be done with it?
I didn't get to watch the game. Seems like I didn't miss anything. At least it wasn't the Albert Poo-holes show.
I am really sick of NL feebleness. I took NL superiority for granted when I was younger. Now the AL dominates, and seems to do so effortlessly. The NL West did not exactly shine last night.
The AL dominates effortlessly? Which game did that come from? They won by one run, same as last year. President Obama (sorry, I believe both the position and the man deserve some respect) asked the broadcasters their opinion as to why the AL had won the last 12, and Tim McCarver, as usual, came up with complete nonsense. I still think that there is no reason, unless it is that the AL has somewhat better closers. Since the game consists of one-inning stints after the starters, why not just use a bunch of closers? (They pretty much did). It really came down to a great catch (Upton, on the same hit, Granderson's triple, didn't manage to get close to the wall) and a string of slightly better closers. A break that went the AL way does not make for effortless domination. I note that Tim was the winning pitcher at one point, until a dogger scumbag gave up the tie and a pudre scumbag gave up the loss.
Sure, it was a close game. But the AL wins the close ones AND the blow-outs.
I still don't buy the "effortless dominance" comment. This from The Red Baron at www.vivaelbirdos.com:
"The National League talent level is equal to the American League in nearly every facet, with the exception of one.
The closers.
Let's face it, the American League won largely because they were able to throw arguably the three best closers in the game at the NL in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. The NL had no answer, relying instead on Heath Bell, a nice pitcher who looks a whole lot better than he really is due to pitching in baseball's Grand Canyon. Yes, yes, I realise the NL did have Ryan Franklin, whose beard power should have been enough to bring home a National victory, but he was used up early in the proceedings. Even if he had been saved for the end, I'm just not sure that Franklin/ Bell/ Rodriguez is quite equal to Papelbon/ Nathan/ Rivera."
Papelbon was hit hard, but got lucky.
ps. I'm still pissed about Sunday.
Bummed that Cainer didn't get to participate in the game, but I'm glad he got to go and experience the occasion. He certainly looked like he was having some fun at the top step of the dugout.
Tim Lincecum looked a bit shaky, but was done in by some poor defense. The curse of Giants pitchers in the ASG continues (Beck, Estes, Big Daddy, Nen)..I rest my case.
". . . three best closers . . . " sounds like dominance to me. I DID think the NL 8 were better, but it didn't pay off. Maybe next year.
Giants pitchers suck in the ASB, exept maybe for Schmidt. Krukow did OK if I remember correctly in his 1 inning of work in 1986. I remember Greg Minton pitching well, only to be undone by poor fielding. That was 30 years ago. Tim had his yips, for sure, but the weak fielding by Wright and Pujols wound up costing the runs.
As long as no one got hurt & Tim did not embarrass himself (which he didn't), what happened in the All-Star Game is completely irrelevant. Frankly, given his disdain for the whole event, it shocks me that Zo even wasted any time commenting on the proceedings.
The All-Star Game (formerly known as the Mid-Summer Classic; now, more appropriately titled 'Bud's Sham') used to be a nice, friendly exhibition game, featuring a relatively appropriately selected group of players. Giving such a game 'meaning' was the first mistake. The slippery slope has now lead to such nonsense as the Brandon Inge / Shane Victorino Voting Block - what the hell was that? This game is now completely unworthy of any respect.
Unfortunately, the World's most important soccer game every 4 years can be decided by something as carnival-like as penalty kicks. However, even more unfortunately, even though the players are selected by 12-year old Boys with nothing to do, & at the risk of injury to key players, the least important baseball game of the year MUST be played to its conclusion, & its outcome decides something as monumental as home field advantage in the World Series.
If ever a game cried out for meaninglessness & for deciding a tie by a carnival-like process (e.g. most logically, a home run hitting contest), it is baseball's All-Star Game.
Welcome home, Tim - go win some games that really matter!
Word!
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