Tim Lincecum wins NL Cy Young Award

Posted on November 19, 2009

Tim Lincecum #55 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the game at AT&T Park on October 1, 2009 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

Last night at dinner I told my friends Eric Risberg and John Mabanglo that San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum MIGHT slip into first place in the balloting and his second straight Cy Young Award because his top two opponents, St. Louis Cardinal aces Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright might split the votes. I woke up this morning preparing to blog about one of the Cardinal hurlers winning the award by searching through my archive for images of both righthanders.

As I was prepping my images of Carpenter and Wainwright I turned on the MLB.com awards show webcast at 10:30am to watch the live announcement that was scheduled for 11am PST. They announced that Tim Lincecum (sometimes called “Timmy” or “The Freak”) had won his second Cy Young Award in row in one of the closest votes in history. I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me. I needed to put together a nice collection of images of The Freak to showcase here on my site. Since I have shot the Hell out of Lincecum in this three seasons with the Giants this would take awhile!

Being a total homer and a Giants season ticket holder I was hoping that Lincecum would win the award, but I really thought one of the Cardinals would win it. Lincecum had such a great season in 2008 when he won the award for the first time, it would be tough to live up to the expectations of being the reigning Cy Young Award winner in 2009. Lincecum got off to a rough start when he was knocked out in the 2nd inning on Opening Day in San Francisco. Turns out he had been sick in spring training and was still very weak. It showed in his body and his face as he appeared much thinner than he had in the past.

Lincecum eventually regained his strength and earned the start for the National league in the All Star Game in St. Louis, where he appeared to be so amped up he could not find the strike zone. Watching this start kinda scared me. I wondered how he might deal with the pressure of pitching for the Giants if they got to the playoffs. Wishful thinking!

Lincecum is the funnest pitcher there is in the big leagues for me to photograph. With his tiny body, amazing torque and whip-like delivery you can’t take a bad picture of him. The still photograph is able to capture so many of the nuances in The Freak’s delivery, no matter where you shoot him from.

Every time Lincecum pitches he effects how I photograph the game- much like Barry Bonds did when he was playing. When The Freak is on the mound I can’t just shoot the game. I have to be aware of what he is doing at all times. I have to move around and shoot him from many different angles and I have to make sure to get a good look at him in the dugout.

The light often dictates when and where I shoot Lincecum from. The harsh light during the summer months dictates that you try and shoot backlit as much as possible. You often hope that Lincecum will pitch deep into the game as the light gets better and better as the game goes on. If he is still out there in the 8th inning at 3:30pm then the game takes a back seat to Lincecum again as I will then run around the park to try and shoot from from behind the plate- where the lower sunlight will make a better picture than the one I shot earlier in the game.

Occasionally, I get lucky and Lincecum is scheduled to throw in the late afternoon when the sunlight is low, orange and screaming down on his face. This has happened a few times at home and once on the road here in Oakland. When the Giants play the A’s I try to get out to the Coliseum just to have the chance to shoot my Giants in the road gray uniforms. There was one awesome Saturday night in June of 2008 when Lincecum was on the hill for a 6:05pm start against the Swingin’ A’s. This was a can’t miss chance to try and squeeze as many frames of Timmy off before the sun disappeared. One of my favorite examples from that night can be seen below.

In San Francisco we have been very lucky to be able to photograph some of the best ballplayers of all time in the past two decades. First it was Barry Bonds in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Now it is Tim Lincecum and that special feeling about him has been there since I shot his big league debut against the Phillies on May 6, 2007. The stars had aligned perfectly for his first start in the Giants uniform. It would be on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. First pitch: 5:05pm PDT. Woohoo!

I called Nate Gordon, my picture editor at Sports Illustrated and told him we needed to be there for the kid’s debut. The #1 pick in 2006 out of Washington was a big story and he would be going up against Philadelphia Phillies phenom Cole Hamels. This was a can’t miss game!

It is always exciting having the chance to shoot a phenom’s big league debut. Having the chance to shoot Linceum in the awesome light (that would only last for 2-3 innings) was a fun challenge as I moved around the park trying to shoot him from as many different angles as possible. I also tried to shoot some wide stuff (see above) to show him in the environment of pitching in the Giants beautiful home ballpark.

The Giants were just awful in 2007 as Barry Bonds chased and finally passed Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record. The team’s won-loss record was terrible, but the fans were excited every 5th day as the young and skinny right hander took the mound. Linceum quickly became a fan-favorite, and one of mine as well. I loved shooting him when I was working and I loved watching him throw from my season ticket box seats behind first base.

By the time 2008 rolled around the team was as bad as it could get. The ONLY thing that kept the fans’ interest (and mine) was the one day a week when #55 climbed on the mound to attack the opposing hitters. Lincecum’s games became must see televsion and must attend in person nights at the yard. Lincecum was quickly becoming the most charismatic pitcher in baseball.

When Bonds was a younger player putting together a Hall of Fame career (before steroids in the early 1990’s) I was a young photographer who did not fully understand the history I was documenting. I was kind of a brain dead button-pusher who did an adequate job of shooting pictures of him swinging the bat, running the bases and making plays in the field. However, I failed to see the bigger picture. I failed to shoot wider pictures in better light that would place Bonds in his environment (Candlestick Park). By the time Lincecum came around in 2007 I had a better idea of what I was doing with a camera in my hands and made it my job to document the history of the game for the rest of my life as a baseball photographer- with Lincecum being a vital part of that.

Like I mentioned earlier- I try to shoot Tim doing everything on the field- including hitting and running the bases. Early in the 2009 season I watched him during batting practice as he developed a really sweet left-handed opposite field stroke. He is such a terrific athlete and a splendid fielder I see him winning a Gold Glove for his position in the near future.

Being a freelance photographer who earns my living from photographing the game of baseball it is no secret that having the chance to photograph such an incredible ballplayer like Tim Lincecum is very beneficial to me. The better Lincecum pitches the more assignments I get from editors to shoot him and the more opportunities I will have to license stock images of him to both editorial and commercial clients (see above).

Timmy has changed quite a bit since he broke in on a sunny Sunday afternoon in May of 2007. He had a much rounder baby face when he was a rookie, with very short hair. As the 2009 season ended his face was more angular and mature looking, and his hair was much longer. I just finished watching the Cy Young press conference LIVE on Comcast from AT&T Park in San Francisco and Lincecum’s hair is even longer! I wonder what he will look like in 2010? I will be finding out soon enough when I head to Scottsdale for spring training. Less than 100 days ’til pitchers and catcher report. I can’t wait!