San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum throws to the San Diego Padres in the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 9, 2009, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/ Tony Avelar)

Padecky: Lincecum replaces Bonds as face of the Giants

BOB PADECKY
PRESS DEMOCRAT SPORTS COLUMNIST

SAN FRANCISCO

Seems almost impossible, considering how pervasive his influence, how it?s been less than two years since he left, how anyone could replace Barry Bonds as the face of the Giants so quickly and so obviously. But Tim Lincecum has, clearly, the transfer of ownership all the more noticeable because Lincecum is the polar opposite of his predecessor, carrying none of the acrimony, physique or baggage. In other words, they have so little in common.

Except The Gift.

You couldn?t take your eyes off Bonds for the same reason you can?t take your eyes off Lincecum. Uncommon talent coupled with a distinct personality is a visual feast. Like watching an Arizona sunset, you never know what kind of spectacular you will see.

Or, if you prefer ...

?Tim is Elvis,? said Shooty Babbitt, the former A?s infielder, now a scout for the New York Mets. ?For so long, Barry was like a Hollywood star around here and people wondered how he could ever be replaced. Well, Tim is that guy.?

The face of a franchise is as much a responsibility as it is a ballpark attraction. When Mario Alioto, the Giants? senior vice president of public marketing, said Lincecum?s stuff outsells every other player, the fans aren?t opening their wallets just because Lincecum won the Cy Young last year and is pitching even better now.

No, Lincecum is out there, running point for them, because he is the fresh face that has never appeared before a congressional committee. He is the bright future baseball desperately wants to sell as it continues to try to distance itself from the Syringe Era.

?Tim is just what the doctor ordered,? said Giants? broadcaster Duane Kuiper.

It?s almost that Lincecum has served himself up on a silver platter for all to see and to admire. To hear all the talk in the clubhouses, the only people who dislike him are the batters who have to face him.

?He is an innocent,? said his manager, Bruce Bochy. ?He?s so unassuming. He looks like he is a junior in high school.?

?(And) who the girls love,? Babbitt said, ?because he has that long hair and young face.?

?(And) who looks very different from what stars look like,? Kuiper said.

Like you and me, Kuiper explained. Ordinary in the physical sense. And ordinary in appearance is fascinating. Ordinary attracts a crowd. Baseball is the most democratic of sports in that way. Basketball players need to be tall just like football players need to be muscled. Baseball players needn?t be either.

?You know how people want to stand next to Shaquille O?Neal to see exactly how tall he is?? Kuiper said of the 7-foot-2, 350-pound NBA center. ?Well, people want to stand next to Tim just to see how small he is. I mean, I stand next to him and I?m three inches taller. He is everybody?s favorite little guy.?

Weighing 160 pounds, and very generously listed at 5-foot-11, Lincecum is everybody?s favorite little guy because he doesn?t spout off, isn?t dismissive, doesn?t talk smack and generally finds a smile makes better sense than smirk.

Everybody?s favorite little guy dresses as Lincecum did Thursday after his last start before the All-Star break ? a black knit cap pulled over his ears, a white T-shirt, a pair of worn jeans with holes in them at the right knee and at the right pocket and surfer-dude flip flops.

His clothes made Lincecum remarkably invisible, given his stature, and that in itself is one of his endearing qualities. He makes no attempt to separate himself from anyone, except possibly a fashionista. It is because of this look ? call it Latent Teenager, if you will ? that is patently ludicrous to even think of, much less accuse, Lincecum of using steroids.

?If anything,? Babbitt said, ?Tim needs to put on weight. He looks like he doesn?t eat enough.?

Of course, the baby face and the tattered jeans and long hair need the proper athletic accompaniment to become Elvis. Image is nothing without a killer fastball, curve and changeup behind it, as style needs substance.

Lincecum is oozing with substance, the kind of substance that can only be classified as electric. How electric? Jim Lefebvre, the former hitting coach for both the A?s and Giants and now hitting coach for San Diego, dropped a name that might appear sacrilegious to the baseball purist.

?What Tim is doing for the Giants right now,? Lefebvre said, ?reminds me of what Sandy Koufax did for the Dodgers back in the ?60s.?

That is not a compliment as much as it is an anointing, to compare Lincecum with Koufax, the best pitcher who ever lived. Lincecum has started a total of 75 games in his big-league career. Baseball veterans typically would be reluctant to lay it on so thick for someone so new to the game. Time must be served. Years must pass. Kids, like Lincecum, who just turned 25 on June 15, must earn their way.

Yet Lincecum is not viewed with such restraint.

Said Bochy, ?His confidence and competitiveness, coupled with his being able to throw any one of three outstanding pitches at anytime in the count, with men on base ? at his age ? it?s spectacular.?

?Like he has been doing this for a long, long time,? Lefebvre said.

Both men finished their statement shaking their heads, as if they themselves were amazed at the words coming out of their mouths. That?s what Lincecum does to people who know the game. He reduces them to glossy platitudes, as if they were just typical fans. But to praise with any less weight would appear to be a disservice to what they are seeing.

?It is basically unfair, if he has all three of those pitches working,? Babbitt said. ?You go up there hoping for a 1-for-4. If you get a 2-for-4, you?ll be telling your grandkids.?

With that in mind, this somehow makes sense: Lincecum said Thursday he?s going into the All-Star break ?with a bitter taste in my mouth.?

Oh, sure, Lincecum has a 10-2 record with a 2.33 ERA, but he had that 29 scoreless-inning string and a no-hitter through six innings against the Padres Thursday. But Lincecum couldn?t get out of the seventh, gave up three runs, four walks and so the rest of the numbers be damned. Not to mention feeling all bubbly inside about being selected to play in the All-Star Game.

?Maybe I?ll get excited on the flight (to St. Louis),? Lincecum said.

The man-child shrugged. He is not impressed with a pedestrian performance.

He may look ordinary, but he is repulsed by pitching ordinary. And the beauty of that, the Bay Area knows it as well. We have seen enough superstars around here to also shrug at ordinary. We want as much out of Lincecum as the pitcher himself.

Brilliance is the coin of the realm here, and it comes with its own special reward.

Tim Lincecum?s locker was once Barry Bonds? locker. Don?t think for a second that?s a coincidence.

For more on North Bay sports, go to Bob Padecky?s blog at padecky.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5223 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com.

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