Lincecum growing off the mound, too

[Bear]

By Andrew Baggarly
MediaNews staff
08/28/2008

CINCINNATI — Anyone can track Tim Lincecum's growth as a pitcher in his second big league season. Anyone can look up his major league leading 2.43 ERA and 210 strikeouts. Any hitter will tell you about the devastating, stomach-dropping changeup he added to an already ridiculous arsenal.
But how does one measure Lincecum's personal growth this season?

Well, here's one way. When the Giants traveled to Cincinnati on Thursday, Lincecum was on the team's charter flight. A year ago, the plane took off without him.

"It's embarrassing," Lincecum said. "I just messed up the time. I'm still embarrassed about it."

It caused a stir in the Giants clubhouse. Barry Bonds, of all people, called a team meeting the following day and got in the rookie's face. When the road trip continued to St. Louis, Lincecum was ordered to carry all the veterans' luggage up to their rooms. He had one brass cart to do the job. The team walked into the lobby after midnight. Lincecum wasn't finished until close to 3 a.m.

He didn't get any tips.

"Yeah, Timmy was a little upset with that," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

Said infielder Rich Aurilia: "He hasn't missed another flight, has he?"
Lincecum let the tale slip last week. At first, he wasn't sure he wanted the story to get out. But while his cheeks still burn at the memory, he is self-assured enough to find the humor in it now.

A year ago, not so much.

The Giants had a 10:30a.m. flight July 2 to begin a series against the Reds the following day. Lincecum thought the club was supposed to meet at AT&T Park at 10:30.

"I knew something was wrong," Lincecum said. "There were just a few guys doing rehab work. They said, 'Dude, they've been looking for you.'"
Lincecum called Giants travel coordinator Michael Scardino, who booked him a nonstop flight. It arrived a few hours after the team, so no real harm done — except for the $800 fare that came out of Lincecum's pocket.

"He felt terrible about it," Bochy said. "But you know, just about everyone in the game had a time when they missed a bus or plane. I did once."

Bochy might have been helping Lincecum save face. In this post-9/11 world of scrutinized passenger manifests, players said it's ultra-rare to go AWOL without securing permission from the manager. Scardino said it's happened just one other time in his 10 seasons with the team.

After the bus rolled away without Lincecum, left-hander Barry Zito took charge.

"I said, 'By a show of hands, how many of you guys have missed a flight in your career?'" Zito said. "And it was just, you know, crickets. So Timmy had to do a little self-preservation on that one."

The next day, Bonds couldn't turn down the opportunity to undress a rookie in front of his teammates.

"Bonds showed us something," Zito said. "He calls a meeting and he's like, 'Are you kidding me, Timmy? This is ridiculous.' He gave him the itinerary and said, 'Dude I don't want this thing to leave your fricking sight the entire trip.' It was pretty funny."

There's nothing like an over-the-top glare from Barry Bonds to make a lesson stick. But Lincecum always was a fast learner. He didn't throw a changeup at the University of Washington and said he began working on the pitch in the minor leagues.

His minor league career lasted 13 games. The changeup already ranks as one of the best in the league.

How does one measure Lincecum's personal growth?

In the ways he hasn't changed, too.

Despite his being a Sports Illustrated cover boy and All-Star this season, Zito and Bochy have been astounded that Lincecum has maintained his same low-key, fun-loving yet grounded persona.

"He's grown while he's maintained who he is," Zito said. "He has such a good spirit, a good heart and this contagious energy. He makes everyone relax a little bit because he just has fun. He's really helped me a lot this year."

What's next in Lincecum's personal growth chart? Major league hitters might not want to know, left-hander Jack Taschner said.
"His eyes aren't wide open anymore," Taschner said. "Timmy is very humble. He doesn't think he's God's gift to baseball. He's friendly to everybody, he never rejects an autograph, he's as down to earth as you can get.

"But he's just starting to understand how truly good his stuff is. In the past I've heard comments like, 'I'm not going to get away with that pitch.' Now he's realizing, 'I can get away with that and more.' He can throw pitches down the middle that the rest of us can't."

Lincecum is all buckled in and cleared for takeoff. From now on, that's exactly where he plans to be.

This is the kind of kid you can build a team around.

[McCovey]

We could be witnessing the beginning of a absolutely brilliant career. This kid has no limit!

[giants rule]

lincecum is a beast...