Tag: tim lincecum

A Win-Win Weekend For The San Francisco Giants

On By In Write FieldIn Baseball, Sports PhotographyLeave a comment

Buster Posey

It was a great weekend for San Francisco Giants baseball.  We didn’t sweep the L.A. Dodgers, but we took the series putting us 5 1/2 games out in front in the National League West.  Toward the end of Sunday’s shut-out, one of ESPN’s announcers speculated that the Dodgers now probably have a better shot at capturing a wild card spot than of winning the NL West.  Music to my ears.

I caught the first game of the series, going back on my solemn promise never to attend another Friday night Giants/Dodgers match-up, after several near-death experiences in past seasons.  I even sat near the visitor’s dugout, and while the inmates were restless… I survived without ever throwing a punch.

Four hecklers behind me were tossed pretty early on.  They were annoying, because two were Giants fans and two were Dodgers fans.  So it was nonstop screaming no matter which team was at bat.  These guys were particularly fond of the F-bomb — but apparently the police officers positioned nearby were not.

As I was leaving AT&T Park after the Giants’ 5-2 victory, the gentleman next to me summed it up nicely.  “WOW, what a game!  I have a feeling every game will be a dog fight like this one from here on out.”

I say, bring it!

I ended the night with more than 1,500 shots.  Here are some of the best, if I do say so myself.  Next up for me and my Canon… September 17 vs. the Colorado Rockies.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Get the Picture?

On By In Write FieldIn Baseball, Sports Photography1 Comment
Tim Lincecum
Tim Lincecum

I played hooky on Wednesday afternoon. Can you call it hooky if you tell your boss in advance that you’ll be out of the office, and you use 1/2 of a vacation day to do it?

Well, even though I did it all by-the-book, it still felt decadent.  I had a blast. I was ITCHING to take in a San Francisco Giants game and shoot some photos — especially of Tim Lincecum since he seemed back on track after the All-Star break.

Yes, I have a soft spot for the guy.  He’s so much fun to photograph. Nobody has a pitching motion like his — certainly not cute, chubby-chubster bullpen guy Brad Penny, who I had never photographed before. Ditto for reliever George Kontos, who is not chubby.  He’s just relatively new to the team… so we were not yet acquainted with one another.

While the game was rather lackluster, and Timmy struggled despite his eight strikeouts, the weather was stunning and my seat was very good for photo taking.  It was my first time in section 125, thanks to StubHub.

It wasn’t Larry Baer territory, where I’ve taken so many photos I’m proud of.  At times I wanted to thump the third base coach on the back of his big head for obstructing my view of the mound, but I restrained myself. (That would be the PADRES third-base coach — not sweet Tim Flannery, who can stand wherever he likes as far as I am concerned.)

I’ll be back at AT&T Park on Sunday, when the Giants take on the Dodgers. Ryan Vogelsong is pitching, and I’m hoping to get some great shots of him too.  I’ll be sitting near the visitors’ dugout — another brand-new vantage point for me.

Where is your favorite place to take photos at the ballpark?

 

This Is a Team Timmy Zone. Proceed With Caution.

On By In Write FieldIn Baseball, Sports PhotographyLeave a comment

Tim LincecumI just spent a grand total of 15 minutes – time I will never get back – watching the 2012 Home Run Derby.  Why do I do this to myself every baseball season?  The Home Run Derby has to be one of the most boring spectacles on earth.  It might be more fun to watch hitters knock baseballs out of the park, if they weren’t practically tossed underhand with momentum that even Barry Zito would scoff at.  Ooh!  Ah!

What’s more, when I switched on my TV, Andrew McCutchen  — Lincecum slayer — was batting.   This was not a positive development.  I guess you could say I’m a little bitter about the San Francisco Giants’ 13-2 loss to the Pittsburg Pirates on Sunday.

Tim Lincecum’s post-game interview was heartbreaking.  I obviously have a soft spot for the guy — and listening to him whisper his pain and frustration, while his chin practically trembled, tore me up.   He wondered if he’d reached “rock bottom”, and talked about being the Giants’ weak link, disappointing his teammates, and having “nothing left to lose”.   The reporters quizzing him seemed almost as miserable as he was.

I’ve always found Timmy’s eloquence, and his openness with the media, endearing.  During his 2010 slump, he thoughtfully answered reporters’ questions after every game when everyone knew he’d rather be just about anywhere else.  Compared to the disingenuous Bull Durham-style platitudes and grudging one-word answers from other ballplayers, it was refreshing.

Timmy is beloved in San Francisco so reaction to his implosion was subdued at first – after all, he’s struggled before, and always bounced back.  But this week I’ve begun hearing, “If he’s not hurt, then he must be washed up.  He’s finished.”

It’s true, his 6.42 ERA is the worst of any starting pitcher in the league, but I haven’t given up on Tim Lincecum. I have nothing to back this up but my pure, blind faith.  He had his stuff against the A’s and the Dodgers, and his delicate confidence seemed on the rebound.  Then came the heat and humidity of D.C., where he lasted fewer than four innings and probably lost 10 pounds in perspiration.  Timmy won’t make excuses for himself, so I will – he is not a hot weather pitcher, which is one of the reasons he’s thrived here in foggy San Francisco.  I can’t help but wonder if things would have been different, had July 3rd’s game been played at AT&T Park.

Anyway, I refuse to believe Tim Lincecum is washed up.  I’m with Ann Killion, who wrote today about Timmy’s need to not over think things during the All-Star break.  Let’s hope he takes this chance to regroup, remind himself how he got where he is… and hopefully get his swagger back.

Come Saturday, when he’s scheduled to pitch against the Astros, I’ll be watching on tenterhooks.  When it comes to Tim Lincecum, I’m not just on the bandwagon… I’m driving it.

So, anyone out there want to ride shotgun?

 

Just Squint and Think of Tartan

On By In Write FieldIn Baseball, Random Stuff1 Comment

Hang on to your Dodgers’ gear.  Evidence suggests that a San Francisco Giants fan may have infiltrated the animation department at Disney!

I have been accused, from time to time, of seeing (read: imagining) Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum all over the place — but how could anyone overlook the uncanny resemblance between Young MacIntosh in Disney’s new film “Brave”, and our Timmy?

It’s as plain as the soul patch on Timmy’s chin.

Aye, both lads are tall and lanky with a dearth of body hair — which they make up for on their heads.  And don’t forget, Lincecum hails from Seattle, land of the utilikilt.

Spooky, huh?  Have I successfully blown your mind?

The good news: MacIntosh is partial to feisty redheads.  I’m just saying…

You all see the resemblance too, right?  If not, trying squinting and thinking of tartan.

Brave's Young MacIntosh
Brave’s Young MacIntosh
Tim Lincecum
Tim Lincecum

Not The Giants’ Sunday Best

On By In Write FieldIn Baseball, Sports Photography1 Comment
Tim Lincecum
Tim Lincecum

I caught Sunday’s San Francisco Giants game against the Oakland Athletics.  The weather cooperated, but the As did not.  They beat the Giants 6-2.

My seat was just to the right of the Giants dugout, deep in Larry Baer territory.  So while I’m pleased with the photos I took, I’d be a fool if I didn’t give proper props to location, location, location.

Sunday was my first time being in such close proximity to Tim Lincecum on the mound.  It was the perfect vantage point from which to watch him get creamed by Collin Cowgill.  Ouch.

It wasn’t Timmy’s finest hour… but I still had fun, and at those prices (ouch, again) THAT is what counts…

That, and scoring a Brian Wilson gnome!   I arrived one hour before AT&T Park’s gates opened, and waited patiently in line for one.  No small children were injured in the capture and taming of my gnome.

A San Francisco Giants promotional giveaway: Brian Wilson Gnome (2012)

Timmy Takes It On The Chin

On By In Write FieldIn Baseball, Sports Photography1 Comment

San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum has to cover home plate from time to time, and I always cringe when he does it.  These photos of his collision with Collin Cowgill in the fourth inning of today’s game against the Oakland A’s illustrate why.

Timmy’s ankle, especially in the second shot, stirred some intense flashbacks of last season’s Buster Posey collision at the plate.   And I could see his head snap back after Cowgill’s batting helmet struck his jaw.

Those few seconds when Timmy was face down in the dirt felt very long.  He’s a string bean.  But he’s our string bean.  And he’s tough.

(Lotto) Fever Pitch

On By In Write FieldIn Random Stuff5 Comments

This evening I picked up the latest ESPN Magazine, featuring Timmy Lincecum — and some other guy — on the cover.  It’s suitable for framing, so colleagues should expect to see it proudly displayed on my desk next week.

I felt a bit giddy afterward, and a little lucky too, so I did something unusual.  I bought TWO lotto tickets.  I often forget to play the lotto at all, and when I remember I usually only buy one ticket.  But tonight I wanted to double my odds…

Early in my career, I worked in the institutional retirement division of a large financial services company.   While there, I stumbled across a survey suggesting that around 3% of working Americans are relying on the lottery for retirement income in their golden years.   It wasn’t a joke.  That 3% was serious, and seriously deluded.

The guy in front of me at the newsstand tonight was apparently among the deluded.  He did not waste his money on magazines with cover photos of eye candy.  He bought 40 — that’s 4-0 — lotto tickets.   The funniest part was, the clerk thought he wanted four tickets, and asked for $4.  The customer looked at him like he was completely nuts.

He responded, “No man, I said 40 tickets.”   But his incredulous expression said, “Do the MATH dude!  There’s no WAY I could win with only four tickets!  I play for keeps so LET’S DO THIS.”

I reassured myself that buying 40 lottery tickets is a pretty bad financial plan.  I contribute to a 401(k) because I am responsible and I live in the real world.  But that doesn’t stop me from dreaming of what I’d do if I ever won the lottery, every time I play.

In case you are wondering, I would take the lump sum payment.

I would:

  1. Pay a lot of taxes.
  2. Quit my job.  (If you are wearing your surprised face right now, get over it.  Your boss can’t see you, you suck up.  You’d do the same thing!)
  3. Stalk homeowners on Liberty Street in San Francisco until one of them agreed to sell his house to me.
  4. Three words: Buy Season Tickets… in the Giants dugout AND on the team plane!
  5. Fund a memorial bench in Princess Street Gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland.
  6. Purchase a decent golf swing.  (Is that possible?)
  7. Make donations to my alma maters.  You know who you are.
  8. Give huge wads of cash to my parents… although I still doubt it’d erase my debt.
  9. Alert Planned Parenthood.  BIG check coming their way!
  10. Buy a pug puppy, and take him with me all over the world.

I’ll check the lottery numbers tonight, but I fear I have jinxed my chances of winning with all this blogging.  Which means it’s back to work on Monday. The Giants and pug puppy will have to wait.