I listen to lots of KNBR 680 on the radio during the day and certainly whenever the San Francisco Giants play. During most of the day they run sports talk, and usually the talk centers around the Giants this time of year.
One of the topics that have people calling in quite a bit about is the play of 2-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum. The Giants are 2-11 when Timmy starts for them this season, and even the much maligned Barry Zito has looked better most of the year. Tim’s last few months on the diamond have by far been his worse stretch as a professional and fans really seem to be worried about Tim’s future as a dominant pitcher in the league.
Over the last few days of listening to the radio here are some of the fan suggestions to improve Tim’s play:
- Send Him Down To Fresno (The Minors)
- Visit The Pitching Guru Barry Zito & Alex Smith Saw
- Skip Your Next Start
- Move Him To The Bull Pin
- Take Away His Bong
- Get Him A New Bong
- Let Barry Bonds Talk To Him
- Get A Hair Cut
- Talk To Pablo About Gaining Some Weight
I honestly don’t think Tim has too much to worry about right now, as he has proven that he can bounce back from a rough stretch of games before. The Giants announcers have noted that his fastball velocity is no longer in the 95-96 MPH range, which means he has to rely on control and his other pitches. Other pitchers have learned how to do this in their career, and I’m sure Timmy will adjust over time.
Photo: Taken By Me!
With all that said, the big question I had was … are collectors paying less for his cards because of his bad play this season?
I went back and looked at completed auctions of his 2007 Bowman Sterling Autograph on eBay from October 2011 to June 2012. You can see that people were paying a pretty consistent price for a while, and actually the slide in price started pretty quickly once the season started. Personally I think this card will hold in the $60 – $70 range for a while before it falls below those levels if Lincecum continues to play poorly. If you like to buy & sell singles (flipping) you’re upside value on these cards is around $80 – $90 … so if you can buy one at around $60 or less, you can make a nice profit.
2007 Bowman Sterling Tim Lincecum Autograph RC
