Tonight, I saw Tim Lincecum pitch for the first time (aside from videos on CalLeaguers.com). Dad and I showed up at the field about an hour and a half before game time and nabbed some sweet seats behind home plate – about 10 rows back. It’s a good thing we got there early, because the place ended up being packed! The first thing I I noticed when we took our seats is that there was a San Diego Padres duffel bag in front of us. It had a tag on it, stating that it belonged to Bill “Chief” Gayton – the Padres’ scouting director. I knew that we would be surrounded by scouts and, sure enough, it looked like there were about 12-15 different scouts present. There were more radar guns than a State Patrol convention! Aside from the Padres, I noticed the following teams represented: Royals, White Sox, Mariners and Brewers. I know that there were many other teams there, but their guys weren’t wearing a shirt or hat that gave away their allegiance.

I walked down to the bullpen to watch Lincecum warm up. There were a ton of people around the bullpen – fans, tons of little kids, all the scouts and three television crews. After playing some long toss, Lincecum came into the bullpen and did some funky stretches using surgical tubing…

Then, he started to throw – and it was impressive. It’s easy to see why people aren’t in love with his delivery. As you can see from the picture below, he almost turns his back on the catcher, which causes his arm to whip behind his body. It may add deception for the hitters, and you sure can’t argue with the results!

Lincecum wasn’t dominating, but he was very good. His fastball was sitting in the mid-upper 90s and his curve is basically un-hittable. On the positive side, he ended up going eight innings, giving up five hits, four runs (three earned) and striking out 11! He recorded his 10^th win of the season – and the 28^th of his college career, breaking the school’s record for most career wins. However, on the bad side, he made two erros, walked three, hit three more and threw 124 pitches, two of which were wild pitches. But, if you go eight innings, give up three earned runs and strike out 11 – and that’s considered an “off” night for you, then you know you’ve got something special on your hands.

Overall, it was certainly a fun night and I hope to see Lincecum pitch again before the draft rolls around!

QUICK NOTES

• Arizona’s 2B, Brad Boyer, whom the Mariners selected in the 15th-round of last year’s draft, is an exciting player. At the plate, he went 2-3 with a double and two walks. But the best part was when he stole home against Lincecum – something I’ve never seen before, in person! I guess that’s what Lincecum gets for going out of the wind-up with a runner on third. Arizona was trying to rattle Lincecum all night. Every time they got on base, they would juke a lot with their leads and fake steal on just about every pitch. After Boyer stole home, Lincecum put one right in Jason Donald’s ribs. Coincidence? As I post this, you can see video of Boyer stealing home on Arizona’s Official Athletic Site.

• Speaking of Donald, Arizona’s SS made a couple of very nice defensive plays, including one where he ran over into foul territory to make a diving catch on a little, foul popup.

• UW’s Zach Clem is crushing the ball this season. The senior outfielder is hitting .311/.423/.732 with 19 home runs and a K/BB ratio of 29/23 through 164 at-bats.