Greetings!
How rare is it for an athlete – who is statistically considered one of the best at his position so early in his career – and already viewed as an iconic figure in the Bay Area, that he would be banished from his starting rotation spot in a World Series of all times? A difficult time for many with such a demotion so publicly written or spoken about in every traditional media and social media outlet across America. Yes, Tim Lincecum sucked up his pride, ego and proved to be the difference maker for his teammates, shutting down Detroit during Games #1 and #3 last week.
Who would have predicted that Lincecum would become more valuable to San Francisco in middle relief than as a possible starter? How flawless was Lincecum during those two appearances? He now ranks right up there with Hall of Famer Goose Gossage and (soon-to-be-one in) Mariano Rivera, as one of the few pitchers to ever compile an ERA with a “O” before the first decimal point in World Series relief – 0.69 ERA in 13 innings with 17 K’s.
"It's not surprising at all," said Giants’ teammate Ryan Vogelsong. “But what sticks out the most to me - when the lights come on in the biggest stage, is that Tim showed everybody what he's truly about. And you've got to tip your hat to him, because he could have been upset about going to the bullpen, and not one second did you ever see that from him. He just went down there and came out firing BBs, and he's been really impressive."
No one could have seen this coming. A pitcher that has started 188 of his 189 Major League game appearances. If you judge this on salary? The Giants’ front office took an $18-million dollar roster spot out of the dugout and switched him to the bullpen. He went from the most dominant pitcher in the big leagues (2008-2010) by the age of 26 to back-to-back disappointing seasons (23-29 W-L record) in the last two years. This past season, Lincecum was battered around for over five runs a game on average in his 33 starts for San Francisco.
If there was ever a modern-day athlete who is largely unencumbered by introspection and self-doubt, it would be Lincecum. He was recently chosen by the men’s GQ Magazine as one of the “Coolest Athletes of All Time!” He is a pitcher that welcomes his teammates to chat with him on game days he starts (says Tim: ”Most pitchers on game days are like, ‘Leave me alone, let me do my thing,’ but I’m like, ‘Guys, you can talk to me, we can listen to music. I mean, it’s supposed to be fun, right?’”) Yet, the 2012 season had even Lincecum wondering if he lost his mojo? “I never lost five games in a month, not at any level,” he said. “I started questioning my own self and what got me here?”
When August rolled into the dog days of last summer, it was evident that Lincecum was no longer himself when he lost his third start in a row. “He was losing for the first time in his life, and he was doing it on a national stage,” said Giants’ pitching coach Dave Righetti. As one disappointing outing led to another, Lincecum started to search for a solution. He started wearing his socks higher to change his delivery. He started running stadium steps to strengthen his leg muscles. More than anything, Lincecum had to come to terms with the fact he was struggling. “It’s about accepting it,” said Tim. “That’s hard to tell people, just because they’re like, ‘What the hell? He’s accepting that he sucks?’ No, it’s like, ‘I can’t do anything about the past. I’m going to get better from here, stop trying to reinvent myself, trust my stuff and move on.’ ”
Lincecum breezed through his early years in the Major Leagues. Dominating hitters. Winning multiple Cy Young Awards. He made a career of proving doubters wrong mostly because of his diminutive size (5-8, 130 pounds as a high school junior) and unorthodox mechanics. Now he was feeling a different kind of pressure to perform for the first time. “The fact that people were like, ‘Is he ever going to be the same Tim Lincecum?’ or whatever they were saying — it all crept up into my head. I started thinking about every aspect of my delivery as opposed to just doing it and trusting it.”
Fellas – the last quote above are words to remember. It’s why each week we keep discussing the importance of working on your mindset. You need to feed your mind with positive energy each day so that when the messages are translated to the body below, your true talents can be unleashed and allow you to perform at peak levels for a consistently longer period of time. If you waver on your thoughts, you can now see how quickly your talents can break down. Just use Tim Lincecum as your new template!
ALL THE BEST MY FRIEND!
Jim
------------------------------
TIM LINCECUM COMMENTING ON GIANTS PITCHER BARRY ZITO, WHO ALSO BATTLED BACK FROM DISAPPOINTING SEASONS IN RECENT YEARS AND FROM BEING TAKEN OFF THE TEAM’S WORLD SERIES ROSTER IN 2010 TO BECOMING A KEY PLAYER IN THEIR 2012 TITLE RUN: “What can you say about a guy who’s gone about it the way he has professionally and still found a way to be positive about it. I mean, there’s so many ways to become negative after all those things — just from the experience I’m going through, just battling those negative thoughts — but Barry’s found a way to become confident and positive again. Obviously, that’s admirable for him to do that, and I look up to him. I look up to him like a big brother.”
------------------------------
LINCECUM ON WHEN BEING TOLD BY THE GIANTS’ BRASS OF HIS NEW ROLE AS A RELIEF PITCHER FOR THE WORLD SERIES: “If it means being a good teammate or being in the 'pen, I don't care, I just want to win."
------------------------------
“All winning teams are goal oriented. Teams like these win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims” – stated by Lou Holtz, Hall of Fame College Football Coach and ESPN TV Analyst
------------------------------
“Repeated actions are stored as habits. If the repeated actions aren’t fundamentally sound, then what comes out in a game can’t be sound. What comes out will be bad habits” – stated by Chuck Knox, former NFL Head Coach
###
How rare is it for an athlete – who is statistically considered one of the best at his position so early in his career – and already viewed as an iconic figure in the Bay Area, that he would be banished from his starting rotation spot in a World Series of all times? A difficult time for many with such a demotion so publicly written or spoken about in every traditional media and social media outlet across America. Yes, Tim Lincecum sucked up his pride, ego and proved to be the difference maker for his teammates, shutting down Detroit during Games #1 and #3 last week.
Who would have predicted that Lincecum would become more valuable to San Francisco in middle relief than as a possible starter? How flawless was Lincecum during those two appearances? He now ranks right up there with Hall of Famer Goose Gossage and (soon-to-be-one in) Mariano Rivera, as one of the few pitchers to ever compile an ERA with a “O” before the first decimal point in World Series relief – 0.69 ERA in 13 innings with 17 K’s.
"It's not surprising at all," said Giants’ teammate Ryan Vogelsong. “But what sticks out the most to me - when the lights come on in the biggest stage, is that Tim showed everybody what he's truly about. And you've got to tip your hat to him, because he could have been upset about going to the bullpen, and not one second did you ever see that from him. He just went down there and came out firing BBs, and he's been really impressive."
No one could have seen this coming. A pitcher that has started 188 of his 189 Major League game appearances. If you judge this on salary? The Giants’ front office took an $18-million dollar roster spot out of the dugout and switched him to the bullpen. He went from the most dominant pitcher in the big leagues (2008-2010) by the age of 26 to back-to-back disappointing seasons (23-29 W-L record) in the last two years. This past season, Lincecum was battered around for over five runs a game on average in his 33 starts for San Francisco.
If there was ever a modern-day athlete who is largely unencumbered by introspection and self-doubt, it would be Lincecum. He was recently chosen by the men’s GQ Magazine as one of the “Coolest Athletes of All Time!” He is a pitcher that welcomes his teammates to chat with him on game days he starts (says Tim: ”Most pitchers on game days are like, ‘Leave me alone, let me do my thing,’ but I’m like, ‘Guys, you can talk to me, we can listen to music. I mean, it’s supposed to be fun, right?’”) Yet, the 2012 season had even Lincecum wondering if he lost his mojo? “I never lost five games in a month, not at any level,” he said. “I started questioning my own self and what got me here?”
When August rolled into the dog days of last summer, it was evident that Lincecum was no longer himself when he lost his third start in a row. “He was losing for the first time in his life, and he was doing it on a national stage,” said Giants’ pitching coach Dave Righetti. As one disappointing outing led to another, Lincecum started to search for a solution. He started wearing his socks higher to change his delivery. He started running stadium steps to strengthen his leg muscles. More than anything, Lincecum had to come to terms with the fact he was struggling. “It’s about accepting it,” said Tim. “That’s hard to tell people, just because they’re like, ‘What the hell? He’s accepting that he sucks?’ No, it’s like, ‘I can’t do anything about the past. I’m going to get better from here, stop trying to reinvent myself, trust my stuff and move on.’ ”
Lincecum breezed through his early years in the Major Leagues. Dominating hitters. Winning multiple Cy Young Awards. He made a career of proving doubters wrong mostly because of his diminutive size (5-8, 130 pounds as a high school junior) and unorthodox mechanics. Now he was feeling a different kind of pressure to perform for the first time. “The fact that people were like, ‘Is he ever going to be the same Tim Lincecum?’ or whatever they were saying — it all crept up into my head. I started thinking about every aspect of my delivery as opposed to just doing it and trusting it.”
Fellas – the last quote above are words to remember. It’s why each week we keep discussing the importance of working on your mindset. You need to feed your mind with positive energy each day so that when the messages are translated to the body below, your true talents can be unleashed and allow you to perform at peak levels for a consistently longer period of time. If you waver on your thoughts, you can now see how quickly your talents can break down. Just use Tim Lincecum as your new template!
ALL THE BEST MY FRIEND!
Jim
------------------------------
TIM LINCECUM COMMENTING ON GIANTS PITCHER BARRY ZITO, WHO ALSO BATTLED BACK FROM DISAPPOINTING SEASONS IN RECENT YEARS AND FROM BEING TAKEN OFF THE TEAM’S WORLD SERIES ROSTER IN 2010 TO BECOMING A KEY PLAYER IN THEIR 2012 TITLE RUN: “What can you say about a guy who’s gone about it the way he has professionally and still found a way to be positive about it. I mean, there’s so many ways to become negative after all those things — just from the experience I’m going through, just battling those negative thoughts — but Barry’s found a way to become confident and positive again. Obviously, that’s admirable for him to do that, and I look up to him. I look up to him like a big brother.”
------------------------------
LINCECUM ON WHEN BEING TOLD BY THE GIANTS’ BRASS OF HIS NEW ROLE AS A RELIEF PITCHER FOR THE WORLD SERIES: “If it means being a good teammate or being in the 'pen, I don't care, I just want to win."
------------------------------
“All winning teams are goal oriented. Teams like these win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims” – stated by Lou Holtz, Hall of Fame College Football Coach and ESPN TV Analyst
------------------------------
“Repeated actions are stored as habits. If the repeated actions aren’t fundamentally sound, then what comes out in a game can’t be sound. What comes out will be bad habits” – stated by Chuck Knox, former NFL Head Coach
###
Jim Loria
E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com
No comments:
Post a Comment