The Freak. The Franchise. Seabiscuit. In baseball, nicknames aren't hard to come by, especially when you look like a batboy but pitch like a hall of famer. Welcome to the world of Tim Lincecum. The good-natured San Francisco Giants ace has heard every name in the book —and laughed off every last one.  That’s a lot easier to do after he has blown away a hitter with his exploding fastball or turned him into a pretzel with his breaking stuff or changeup. As far as Tim is concerned, you can call him anything you want—just don’t call him late for his next start. This is his story…

GROWING UP

Timothy LeRoy Lincecum was born on June 15, 1984 in Bellevue, Washington. (Click here for a complete listing of today's sports birthdays.) His parents, Chris and Rebecca, welcomed their first son, Sean, four years earlier. The family was active, and the boys loved sports.

Chris and Rebecca were big music fans. The car radio was usually tuned to a rock station. Tim was enamored by the Beatles and had an amazing ear for lyrics. Today, teammates often refer to him as "the human juke box."

Chris had a technical job with Boeing. Blessed with an analytical mind, he was constantly pouring over data in an attempt to build a better airplane. This practice spilled over into another obsession, throwing a baseball. A great pitcher in his younger days, Chris learned how to grip a curveball at age six. By his teens, he was thinking of a pro career, but a serious injury to his back ended his big-league aspirations. His fascination with pitching mechanics, however, only grew.

Sean was the first to benefit from his dad’s knowledge. Tall and beefy, he had the frame for success in any sport. Not only did Sean excel on the mound, he was a terror on the football field.

Tim, by contrast, was much smaller and more wiry than this big brothers. He would tag along with Sean and his dad during their pitching sessions and mimic everything he saw. As it turned out, Tim had the perfect body for Chris’s unique windup, a series of torso turns and arm whipping action punctuated by a long stride toward the plate. In recent years, coaches, writers and broadcasters have speculated that Chris developed his signature ptiching motion by studying Sandy Koufax. He says the delivery is completely his own creation.

Chris and Rebecca worked in tandem to help push along Tim’s career. His mother drove him to and from practice and games. His father focused on Tim’s performance on the hill. Chris videotaped his son’s games, and the two analyzed each outing together. Chris also developed a series of hand signals for Tim. During games, he would flash them to his son, letting him know when he was making mistakes in his mechanics.

While Sean’s career stalled after he broke an arm, Tim continued to improve—though his coaches didn’t always recognize it. Tim was normally chosen for All-Star teams as a kid, but he spent most his time watching from the bench. The problem was his size. He was so much smaller than his teammates that he rarely got a chance to play.

When Tim entered Liberty High School in Renton, he stood just 4-11 and weighed all of 85 pounds. Incredibly flexible, the teeanger was much stronger than he appeared, thanks mostly to a weight training program devised by Chris. Tim could do a back flip from a standing start and walk across the room on his hands.

Tim made the varsity for the first time as a junior. By then, he had sprouted by nearly 12 inches. Tim had a great year for the Patriots, going 4-2 with a 0.73 ERA. He struck out 86 batters in 49 innings.

Tim soon began to attract the attention of college coaches in the area. Ken Knutson, the head baseball man at the University of Washington, came to Liberty for a visit. Initially, he thought someone was pulling a fast one on him —until he saw Tim throw off the mound. Then Knutson was convinced.

Tim was lights-out for Liberty High in his senior year. Named Washington’s Gatorade Player of the Year, he led the Patriots to the Class 3A state championship. Tim went 12-1 with a 0.70 ERA and 183 strikeouts in 91.2 innings. He was an easy selection as Liberty’s MVP and First Team All-State.

ON THE RISE

Tim’s season—and his prospects as a major leaguer—seemed to change almost instantly during one game. He had always thrown hard, but his mechanics suddenly began to click perfectly. With scouts in attendance, his velocity jumped into the 90s. The Chicago Cubs were impressed enough to spend a draft pick on him. Tim turned them down, settling instead on the Huskies. Knutson promised that he would not fiddle with Tim’'s mechanics

Not that Knutson needed to. Tim was sensational in his first year with Washington, becoming the first player ever to be named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year. He led the conference in strikeouts, and only Long Beach State’s Jered Weaver averaged more Ks per nine innings. Tim was dominant from the start of the season to the end. His best outing came against Loyola, as he threw one-hit ball and fanned 15 over six innings.

That summer, Tim joined the Seattle Studs, an amateur team that played in tournaments all over the country. He led the club to the National Baseball Congress World Series, where he won one game. Baseball America later named him the top prospect in the Pacific International League.

Tim continued his mastery over Pac-10 hitters during his sophomore year. An all-conference selection for the second season in a row, he allowed a measly .179 batting average against him. Over his last nine starts, he surrendered just 32 hits and 17 earned runs.

The Cleveland Indians were among the teams drooling over Tim’s potential. They drafted him the 42nd round, but Tim again said no to the big leagues.

Instead, he traveled to the East Coast to pitch for the Harwich Mariners in the Cape Cod League. Used as a starter and reliever, Tim went 2-2 with seven saves and a 0.69 ERA. Again, Tim’s fortunes benefited from another amazing single-inning performance. During the CCL All-Star Game, with scouts in full attendance, he registered 98 mph on the radar gun. His pro stock jumped immediately.

Tim entered his junior year with the Huskies as one of the nation’s top college prospects. He proceeded to have a season for the ages, setting school records with 12 wins and 199 Ks. Tim was named National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball six times and made the College Baseball Foundation's weekly honor roll seven times. He was voted Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week after striking out 16 in eight innings against Oregon State. In a shutout of UCLA, he went the distance and fanned 18.

Tim consistently threw in the high 90s and was clocked at 101 mph at one point. During one stretch, he went 37 innings without giving up a run. Baseball America ranked him as the country's second-best amateur prospect, and he won the the Golden Spikes Award as the nation's best amateur baseball player.

Still, a lot of teams weren’t convinced. Some scouts saw Tim’s small frame and assumed he wouldn’t be able to handle the rigors of pro ball. Nine clubs passed on him before the Giants selected him with the 10th pick in the 2006 draft. Even then, San Francisco GM Brian Sabean referred to him as "Tiny Tim."

Tim joined the Giants a short time later and breezed through his first two stops in the minors. In four innings for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in the Low-A Northern League, he whiffed 10 and gave up just one hit. That was all the Giants needed to see, as they moved him to Class-A San Jose. There, Tim went 3-0 with 58 strikeouts in 34 innings, including a great performance in the playoffs.

For the 2007 season, the Giants promoted Tim to the Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League. He made Triple-A batters look silly. Tim surrendered a single run in 31 innings and didn’t allow a hit with runners in scoring position. After five brilliant starts, he got the call from the big club. Veteran starter Russ Ortiz was hurt, and the Giants felt Tim had nothing left to prove in the minors.

MAKING HIS MARK

Tim made his debut against the Philadelphia Phillies and struck out the side in his first inning of work. The Phils later tagged him for five runs, but it was clear he had electric stuff, even by big-league standards. Tim earned his first victory in early May when he shut down the Rockies in Colorado.

Over the next six weeks, Tim took his lumps. By late June, however, he began to feel comfortable. July was his best month, as he strung together a four-game winning streak. He finished at 7-5 with a 4.00 ERA, and topped all NL rookie hurlers with 150 Ks.

Tim’s first season was a great ride, save a personal tragedy. His maternal grandfather, Grandpa Asis, passed away, news that saddened Tim greatly. He spent time on the bereavement list and then returned to action. Tim was in uniform when Barry Bonds hit #756 to pass Henry Aaron and become baseball’s all-time home run king.

During the winter, the Giants looked long and hard at their roster, eager to find the right mix of players to contend in the NL West. With Bonds ushered out of town, the team needed a power hitter. San Francisco considered swapping Tim for Alex Rios of the Toronto Blue Jays, but thought better of it. Instead, they kept him as the centerpiece of a talented young rotation that included Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez. The Giants would likely struggle to score runs, but their pitching—even with the disappointing Barry Zito—appeared solid.

Tim opened the year on a roll, winning four of his first five decisions. By the end of May, he was 7-1 and averaging more than a strikeout per inning. Hitters were helpless against him. Teammates marveled at his velocity and command. Fans loved his story, especially the faithful in San Francisco. Tim revitalized the moribund franchise. Tickets sales jumped for his starts, and the media couldn’t get enough of him.

Many thought Tim would start the All-Star Game, but he pitched the weekend before and was unable to go. As it turned out, Tim didn't even make it to the National League dugout for the Mid-Summer Classic. He was felled by "flu-like" symptoms and dehydration, and spent a night in the hospital.

Tim returned to his regular spot in the rotation but struggled somewhat in July. By August, however, he was back in top form. Tim started six games during the month, won four of them and posted a 1.27 ERA. Outside of two poor outings in September, he finished strong. His final numbers—an 18-5 record, 2.62 ERA, 265 strikeouts and just 182 hits in 227 innings—were eye-popping. What made Tim's season all the more remarkable was the fact that the Giants ended the year 18 games under .500.

A bit of intrigue remained for Tim after the conclusion of the '08 campaign. The competition for the NL Cy Young was fierce, with Brandon Webb, Johan Santana and Brad Lidge among those in the running. When it came time for the voting, however, the baseball writers saw one clear candidate. Tim received 23 first-place ballots to become the first righty to claim the award since Dwight Gooden and Bret Saberhagen in 1985.

As Tim’s career unfolds, comparisons to the likes of Sandy Koufax and Ron Guidry are inevitable. Like them, he’s a little guy with a big arm. But neither Koufax nor Guidry enjoyed the kind of success Tim has enjoyed at such a young age. In today’s world of overgrown stars with over-inflated egos, Tim is proving that bigger isn’t always better.

TIM THE PITCHER

Tim is tough on hitters for a number of reasons. Of course, there's his unorthodox delivery. He hides the ball well, and many big-league hitters are unaccustomed to his long arm motion. But Tim’s unique wind-up overshadows an obvious fact—he had terrific stuff. His fastball is overpowering, and his curve is a classic vertical breaker. Tim also hadsa good slider and changeup. He relies most often on his heater, which makes his off-speed offerings all the more potent.

Because of his whirldwind delivery, Tim must be spot on with his mechanics. One key for him is keeping his left shoulder aimed at his target for as long as possible. He also takes an unusally long stride, which means the landing point for his left foot is crucial as well.

Tim also embraces a different approach to pitching away from the field. For example, he never ices his arm. Before his starts, Tim is talkative and fun—no different than his personality the day after a gem. This makes him a great teammate and a good leader

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