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.

I record Baseball Tonight every day. Sure, the hosts can be annoying (although I love Tim Kurkjian), but I usually just skip ahead to the Web Gems. Tonight I was watching the Web Gems and it gets down to #1 and flashes Mike Cameron’s name on the screen. Now, you may know that Cammy’s my favorite ballplayer. So, obviously, I was really excited that he made the #1 Web Gem of the night. Then…the recording cut off. I don’t know if it’s TiVo’s fault or ESPN’s fault, but I was pretty bummed. Anyway…let’s have some fun with Mariners’ statistics!

David Bell has more HRs (3) than Scott Spiezio (2), who has more HRs than Adrian Beltre (0).

Oh…and guess who has more HRs than Kenji Johjima. That’s right…Miguel Olivo (3)!

Omar Vizquel has a better batting average (.362) than Carlos Guillen (.282), who has a better average than Yuniesky Betancourt (.257). However, while still absolutely pathetic, Yu-Bet’s OBP of .268 is better than Frank Thomas, Kevin Millar, Cliff Floyd, Justin Morneau, Reggie Sanders, Matt Holliday, Torii Hunter, Jeromy Burnitz, Mark Ellis & Jeff Francoeur. I’m guessing that won’t last long…

The Mariners, as a team, have a K/9 rate of 7.55 – good for best in the American League. Surprised? Me too! They’re significantly helped out by their trio of freaking-awesome relievers: Rafael Soriano, George Sherrill & J.J. Putz, who have strikeout rates of 10.03, 12.86 and 15.09, respectively. Felix and…Eddie? are both posting a rate of 10.80 K’s per nine innings, while Gil Meche and Jake Woods are also posting rates that are above league-average.

On the bad side, the M’s also tied for second in the AL in home runs allowed, with 29. Amazingly, 21 of those 29 bombs (72%) have been served up at Safeco Field. The M’s, on the other hand, have hit only 10 dingers at home. Yuck…

Ichiro’s average through April 26^th, year-by-year:

2001: .347

2002: .312

2003: .258

2004: .268

2005: .333

2006: .263

Here’s hoping Ichiro gets a few hits, Beltre and Johjima hit home runs, Betancourt takes a walk, the M’s keep striking guys out and they pull off a winning record on this strange road trip. Go M’s!

Roy Oswalt, Jake Peavy, Tim Hudson, Tom Glavine, & Scott Kazmir have a couple of things in common. Obviously, it’s a great group of pitchers. They have a combined record of 522-314 with an ERA of 3.38. However, they’re also linked because they’re all considered short for their position. All are listed at right around 6’0” – which is a little taller than average for a white male, but is shorter than most guys who toe the rubber every five days. There is a definite bias against short pitchers, but, as you can see, guys don’t have to be 6’5”, 230 lbs. to be successful.

If you’re interested in the MLB draft at all, you’ve surely heard about USC’s Ian Kennedy, Houston’s Brad Lincoln and UW’s Tim Lincecum. All three pitchers are short, right-handers who are putting up great numbers this season and will be drafted in the first round of baseball’s amateur draft. However, here are three other short pitchers who are flying…ahem…under the radar this season.

Mike Felix

Junior / LHP / 6’0”, 195 lbs. / Troy

Drafted by the Indians in the 27^th round of the 2003 draft, Felix decided to instead attend Auburn. As the first freshman to start for Auburn on Opening Day since Mark Chapman in 1984, Felix was decent his freshman season. However, after a coaching change at Auburn, Felix got into only seven games (started five) and pitched just 14.1 innings during his sophomore season. He transferred to Troy for the 2006 season and, so far, the short southpaw has been lights-out. He’s appeared in 20 games (starting six of them), but he’s pitched 72.2 innings and I’m guessing that he’ll be drafted as a starter…that is, if he’s not drafted as a position player. See, Felix plays the corner outfield positions when he’s not on the mound, and he’s currently hitting .380/.433/.602. His height and the fact that he’s pitching mainly in relief are probably strikes against him being selected as a pitcher. However, his good statistics and the fact that he’s left-handed are in his favor. We’ll have to wait and see…

Danny Ray Herrera

Junior / LHP / 5’7”, 145 lbs. / New Mexico

While Herrera has pitched well, the number that stands out the most is, unfortunately, his height. I mean, Tim Lincecum from UW is putting up ridiculous numbers and scouts are still like, “Eh…I don’t know. He’s kind of…short.” Lincecum’s being discriminated against and he’s five inches taller than this guy! David Eckstein is listed as being 5’7”. Being left handed should help Herrera, and I’ll certainly be rooting for him, being that I’m a short guy myself. I think a team that can look over past his height will draft him in the later rounds.

Wes Roemer

Sophomore / RHP / 6’0”, 185 lbs. / Cal State Fullerton

Holy crap…a 88/3 K/BB ratio? That’s freaking insane! Obviously Roemer can’t get drafted this year, because he’s a sophomore, but he’s certainly making a splash to be ranked highly next year. Baseball America ranked him as only the 46th-best sophomore coming into this season. He wasn’t drafted out of high school, probably because he’s small, but the numbers don’t lie – the kid can pitch! Roemer throws almost side-armed, and on his bio page on the Cal State Athletics web site, he lists his favorite baseball team as the Seattle Mariners!

Mike Hargrove is a liar. He continues to say that Reed isn't being platooned against lefties, but Tuesday night marked the fourth time this season that Reed rode the pine with a southpaw on the bump. Coincidence? I don't think so!

Reed only watched as his teammates faced off against Barry Zito, Cliff Lee, Lenny DiNardo and John Koronka. Willie Bloomquist started three of the games in favor of Reed, but consider this...

Player A: .200/.285/.273 through 110 ABs
Player B: .235/.284/.316 through 234 ABs

Not too different, right? Player B has a little better average and power, but the difference is mostly negligible.

Player A is Jeremy Reed, with Player B being Willie Boom Boom (against all lefties not named Jarrod Washburn).

When you consider Reed's superiority as a defender, and the fact that he's younger and should be developing and getting experience against lefties, I have to say...

FREE JEREMY REED!

I was surprised to go to ESPN.com today and see this in the right colum with the main, news headlines...

"Appier has scoreless debut with M's Triple-A affiliate"

Sure, I understand that he hasn't pitched in the Majors since April of 2004. But, it it really that newsworthy that a guy who pitched in the big leagues for 16 years threw one scoreless inning in AAA? I'd put money down that Chris Bosio could throw a scoreless inning in Tacoma.

The article went on to say, "Appier, 38, allowed one hit and one walk in the seventh inning of the Rainiers' 3-2 win at Sacramento. He struck out one and threw 18 pitches, nine for strikes."

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate his passion for the game, but any old dip can pitch a scoreless inning...

Check out this really cool online database from the Hall of Fame that has drawings of every baseball uniform since 1900. It's a lot of fun to see how uniforms evolved and, through Baseball-Reference, you can even select a player and see every different uniform they've worn. For example, here's Jamie Moyer!

This is, quite possibly, the coolest thing ever! I can't imagine how long this took and it's really sweet. If you didn't already see it on Deadspin, check it out! Plus...the guy who does the blog is named Conor!