Tim Lincecum named 2009 Graduate of the Year

The National Baseball Congress World Series congratulates its 2009 graduate of the year, San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum.

Lincecum grew up in Renton, Wash., playing at Liberty High School. After leading Liberty to a State Championship in his senior season, Lincecum was drafted out of high school in the 48th round by the Chicago Cubs in 2003. The 25-year old opted not to sign and instead enrolled at the University of Washington.

During his freshman and sophomore seasons at the University of Washington, Lincecum went 18-9, striking out 292 batters in just 216.2 innings pitched. In 2004 he was named both the PAC-10 Freshman and Pitcher of the Year, the first time in the conference’s history one player had won both awards in the same season. It was during the summer of 2004 that Lincecum joined the Seattle Studs and played in the National Baseball Congress World Series. Lincecum earned two wins in both of his World Series appearances, striking out 10 in a total of six innings.

His junior campaign earned him the prestigious Golden Spikes Award, which is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player in the country. Lincecum joined fellow NBC alumni Terry Francona, Robin Ventura, and J.D. Drew who have won the award. Lincecum went 12-4 for the Huskies in 2006, with a 1.94 earned run average. He struck out 199 hitters in 125.1 innings pitched, and even notched three saves.

With his Major League talent more apparent than ever, Lincecum was drafted for the third time in four years. This time he was selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2006 draft by the San Francisco Giants and finally signed his first professional contract less than two months later.

Lincecum was sent to the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in the short season Northwest League. He appeared in just two games, not allowing a run in 4.0 innings before earning a quick promotion to the High-A California League with San Jose. In a league known to be tough on young pitchers, Lincecum continued to breeze through the opposition, posting a 1.95 earned run average in six starts and struck out 48 in just 27.2 innings pitched. In his final three starts of 2006, Lincecum struck out 10, 11, and nine hitters respectively, yielding just two runs.

Lincecum never pitched at the Double-A level, making the rare jump from High-A to Triple-A. Lincecum went 4-0 for the Pacific Coat League’s Fresno Grizzlies, with a miniscule 0.29 ERA. He struck out another 46 batters while walking only 11 in 31.0 innings pitched.

Looking for a midseason boost, the Giants felt it was time to finally call up their prized prospect. Lincecum was called up to San Francisco on May 6 at home versus the Philadelphia Phillies. His arrival was hardly your typical Major League debut. Lincecum was hyped well before he was drafted, and the hype only grew as he plowed through three different minor league levels in less than three months of baseball. In addition to the buzz surrounding his first start, a coincidence in the schedule resulted in Lincecum making his debut in front of a national audience on ESPN. Lincecum was touched up for five runs, including two home run balls, in 4.1 innings pitched. The five runs were nearly as many as the seven runs Lincecum had allowed in 13 starts in the minor leagues. A Giants rally though helped the rookie avoid taking his first loss.

Lincecum was much sharper his next time out, firing seven innings and allowing two earned runs with six strikeouts at hitter friendly Coors Field to earn his first big league win. In just his third career start, Lincecum displayed the brilliance Giants fans had been hoping for. He pitched seven innings and did not allow an earned run while fanning 10 Astros hitters at another hitter’s haven, Minute Maid Park. Lincecum struggled in the month of June, going 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA, but foreshadowed his Cy Young campaign by going 4-0 with a 1.62 earned run average in July. During the month, he struck out a then career-high 12 hitters during seven shutout innings against the Diamondbacks. Lincecum went 1-2 over his final eight starts, before the Giants shut him down in mid-September after throwing 140.0 innings as a rookie. He finished the season 7-4 with a 3.99 ERA and with more strikeouts (145) than innings pitched (140.0).

Lincecum’s early success reached a new level in 2008 when he captured the National League Cy Young Award, and nearly won the league’s pitching triple crown in doing so. Lincecum paced the NL with 265 strikeouts, and finished second with 18 wins and a 2.62 earned run average. On Sept. 13, Lincecum tossed the first, and likely the first of many, complete game shutout of his career. He held the San Diego Padres to just four base hits. Lincecum struck out 10 or more hitters nine different times in his 33 starts, including a career-best 13 on two separate occasions. Despite his slight frame of 5’11”, 171 pounds, Lincecum remained strong deep into the season. In fact, Lincecum’s best month in 2008 came in August when he went 4-0 with a 1.27 earned run average in six starts. Lincecum became the first pitcher in 24 years to win a Cy Young Award in only his second season in the Major Leagues.

Lincecum continued his dominance into the 2009 season. After a couple of shaky outings in his first two starts, Lincecum went on to post a 10-2 record with a 2.33 earned run average and 149 strikeouts in just 127.2 innings pitched through the first half of 2009. He fanned 13 Arizona Diamondbacks hitters on April 18th, tying his career-high for a single game. Lincecum went 4-1 in six starts in the month of June, posting a 1.48 earned run average and earned his second consecutive all-star appearance. Lince-cum earned the distinction of starting for the National League at the All-Star Game in St. Louis on July 14.

Lincecum is referred to as “the franchise” and more lightheartedly as “the freak” due to his unorthodox mechanics. The only freak part about Lincecum however is how freakishly good he is. Having just turned 25-years old in June, Lincecum is often compared to all-time greats Sandy Koufax and Pedro Martinez, two other power pitchers who made the most of their smaller builds. Lincecum could very well be on his way to a second straight Cy Young award, which would mark the first time in baseball history a pitcher won the award twice in his first three seasons.