name	Stephen Strasburg
width	300
team	Washington Nationals
number	37
position	Starting pitcher
birth date	July 20, 1988
birth place	San Diego, California
bats	Right
throws	Right
debutdate	June 8
debutyear	2010
debutteam	Washington Nationals
statyear	2010 season
stat1label	Win–loss record
stat1value	5–3
stat2label	Earned run average
stat2value	2.97
stat3label	Strikeouts
stat3value	92
stat4label	Walks
stat4value	17
stat5label	WHIP
stat5value	1.12
teams	Washington Nationals (–present)
highlights	On June 8, 2010, struck out fourteen Pittsburgh Pirates batters (Washington Nationals record) }}

}} Stephen James Strasburg (; born July 20, 1988 in San Diego, California) is a right-handed pitcher for the Washington Nationals, who selected him with the first pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. He signed a record $15.1 million contract with the Nationals on August 17, 2009, just 77 seconds before the deadline, breaking a record previously held by Mark Prior, who had signed 93 seconds before the deadline in 2001. He was called the "most-hyped pick in draft history" by ESPN and the "most hyped and closely watched pitching prospect in the history of baseball" by ''Sports Illustrated''.

Amateur career

San Diego State

In 2008, as a sophomore at San Diego State University, Strasburg went 8–3 with a 1.58 earned run average and 134 strikeouts in 98⅓ innings for the San Diego State Aztecs. Four of his thirteen starts in 2008 were complete games, two of which were shutouts. On April 11 of that year, he struck out a Mountain West Conference record 23 batters in a game versus the University of Utah.

Strasburg finished the 2009 season 13–1 with a 1.32 ERA, 59 hits allowed, 16 earned runs, 19 walks, and 195 strikeouts in 109 innings pitched. In his final home start on May 8, 2009, Strasburg threw his first career no-hitter while striking out 17 Air Force batters. His lone loss came against the Virginia Cavaliers in the NCAA Regionals as Virginia advanced toward the College World Series, but he still struck out 15 in seven innings during the loss.

In the summer of 2007, Strasburg also played for the Torrington Twisters of the NECBL where he was awarded as the 2007 Top Pro Prospect, 2007 Top Relief Pitcher, and to the 2007 NECBL First Team as a closer.

International play

Strasburg was the lone collegiate player selected for the U.S. Baseball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He had previously pitched for the USA Baseball National Team (College).

In his first start at the Olympics, Strasburg one-hit the Netherlands over seven innings, striking out five of the first six batters he faced. The lone hit Strasburg allowed was a seventh-inning single to Sharnol Adriana. There were two rain delays each lasting at least 90 minutes, and the game was called off after eight innings following the second wait.

With the U.S. having already secured a spot in the semifinals medal round, Team USA Manager Davey Johnson held Strasburg from what should have been his second start on August 20 in order to pitch him in the first round of the semifinals against Cuban Norge Luis Vera. The strategy did not work, as Vera outdueled Strasburg with six innings pitched and only two runs (one earned). Strasburg, meanwhile, lasted only four innings while giving up three runs (two earned). Cuba won the game 10–2.

Strasburg ended up with a 1–1 record, a 1.67 ERA, and a bronze medal for the Olympics, as Team USA won its following contest against Japan 8–4.

Professional career

Draft

On June 9, 2009, Strasburg was drafted number one overall in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft by the Washington Nationals. On August 17, 2009, he signed a record-breaking four-year, $15.1 million contract with the Nationals. Strasburg is represented by agent Scott Boras.

Minor leagues

Strasburg made his professional debut on October 16, 2009, starting for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, which is in Phoenix, Arizona.

Before the 2010 season started, ''Baseball America'' named Strasburg as the top pitching prospect (#2 overall behind Atlanta Braves outfielder Jason Heyward) in baseball.

Strasburg was assigned to the Double-A Harrisburg Senators to begin his minor league career. There was so much anticipation and hype surrounding Strasburg that there were about 70 credentialed media members in attendance at his April 11, 2010 debut, and ESPN nationally broadcast portions of the game (only the half-innings in which Strasburg was pitching). He won that debut in Altoona, Pennsylvania, versus the Altoona Curve, allowing four hits and four runs (one earned), while striking out eight batters in five innings. During his first home start on April 16, he yielded two hits and an unearned run with three strikeouts in 2⅓ innings in a loss to the New Britain Rock Cats. Harrisburg set an attendance record in Strasburg's home debut and then topped the previous mark two weeks later in Strasburg's Double-A finale. He completed his Double-A stint with a 1.64 earned run average while striking out 27 and walking six in 22 innings.

On May 4, 2010, he was promoted to the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs. In his first game with the Chiefs, he pitched six scoreless innings, striking out six batters while allowing one hit and one walk. That game had the highest attendance in the 135-year history of baseball in Syracuse. In his second start, Strasburg was removed after pitching six no-hit innings. He finished his minor league stint with an overall record of 7–2, an ERA of 1.30, 65 strikeouts and 13 walks in 55⅓ innings, and a WHIP of 0.80.

Washington Nationals

Strasburg made his major-league debut on June 8, 2010, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. A ''Sports Illustrated'' columnist termed it "the most hyped pitching debut the game has ever seen." Strasburg picked up the win in his debut, pitching seven innings, allowing two earned runs and no walks and 14 strikeouts, setting a new team strikeout record. Further, he was the first pitcher in history to strike out at least eleven batters without issuing any walks in his pro debut, while falling just one strikeout short of the all-time record for a pitcher's debut—Karl Spooner (1954) and J. R. Richard (1971) both struck out 15, but each took nine innings to do it, and each walked three. (Bob Feller also struck out 15 in his first start, although it wasn't his big league debut). Strasburg's first career strikeout was of former National Lastings Milledge. He struck out every batter in the Pirates' lineup at least once and sturck out the last seven batters he faced—also a Nationals record. He threw 34 of his 94 pitches at or faster, including two that clocked .

In Strasburg's second and third major league starts he struck out another eight and ten batters, respectively, setting a major league record for the most strikeouts in a pitcher's first three starts with 32. The previous recordholder had been J.R. Richard, who struck out 29 in his first three starts in 1971. Strasburg was also featured in the cover story of ''Sports Illustrated'' following his second start.

Strasburg was placed on the disabled list with an inflamed right shoulder in July 2010. He returned to action on August 10, but in his third game back, on August 21, he was removed with an apparent injury. On August 27, the Nationals announced that Strasburg had a torn ulnar collateral ligament, requiring Tommy John surgery, and about 12 to 18 months of rehabilitation.

In the 2010 season Strasburg pitched in 12 games, all starts, throwing 68 innings, 92 strikeouts and compiling a 2.91 ERA. He was named a pitcher on the 2010 Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team.

Strasburg made his first rehab start on August 7, 2011 for the Hagerstown Suns. He is reportedly slated to make his 2011 major league debut at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 6, 2011.

Personal life

Strasburg was born in San Diego, California, the son of Kathleen Swett, a dietitian, and Jim Strasburg, a real estate developer. He credits his maternal grandmother with helping him develop his baseball skills as a child. She would frequently play catch and even work on pitching with him. He labels her as one of his biggest inspirations. He was married on January 9, 2010, to Rachel Lackey.

Pitch repertoire

Strasburg's repertoire features four pitches: a two-seam fastball as his primary pitch that moves in on right-handed hitters, a four-seam fastball, a curveball/slider that Strasburg himself refers to as a slurve, and a circle changeup.

References

External links

Washington Post Archives

Stephen Strasburg 5K Walk and Fun Run Strasburg5K.com

Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Washington Nationals players Category:Baseball players from California Category:San Diego State Aztecs baseball players Category:San Diego State University alumni Category:Olympic baseball players of the United States Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States Category:Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Phoenix Desert Dogs players Category:Harrisburg Senators players Category:Syracuse Chiefs players Category:People from San Diego, California Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:Tommy John surgery recipients Category:Olympic medalists in baseball

es:Stephen Strasburg fr:Stephen Strasburg la:Stephanus Iacobus Strasburg lv:Stīvens Strāzburgs ja:スティーブン・ストラスバーグ simple:Stephen Strasburg sv:Stephen Strasburg zh:史蒂芬·史特拉斯堡

Name	Tim Lincecum
Position	Starting pitcher
Team	San Francisco Giants
Number	55
Bats	Left
Throws	Right
Birth date	June 15, 1984
Birth place	Bellevue, Washington
Debutdate	July 15
Debutyear	2007
Debutteam	San Francisco Giants
Statyear	August 28, 2011
Stat1label	Win–Loss
Stat1value	68–37|stat2labelEarned run average
Stat2value	2.94
Stat3label	Strikeouts
Stat3value	1,096
Awards	4× All-Star (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) World Series Champion (2010) 2× NL Cy Young Award (2008, 2009) Babe Ruth Award (2010) Majors Strikeout Champion (2008) 3× NL Strikeout Champion (2008, 2009, 2010) 2× ''Sporting News'' NL Pitcher of the Year Award (2008, 2009) MLB "This Year in Baseball Awards" Starting Pitcher of the Year (2008) Players Choice Awards NL Outstanding Pitcher (2010) 1× NL Pitcher of the Month (6/2009) 1× NL Player of the Week (8/3/2009) Golden Spikes Award (2006)
teams	San Francisco Giants (–present) }}

Timothy Leroy Lincecum (, LIN-se-kum; born June 15, 1984) is an American professional baseball starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He is nicknamed "The Freak" and "The Franchise." He throws right-handed and bats left-handed. Lincecum is known for his long stride, unorthodox mechanics, and ability to generate high velocity despite his slight build of 5'11" and 160 pounds, prior to the 2011 season. He has put on about 15 pounds, and now has a weight recorded at 175 pounds. Lincecum won the 2008 and 2009 National League Cy Young Awards, and was the first second-year player to win the Cy Young since Dwight Gooden and Bret Saberhagen both won in 1985.

His repertoire includes a two-seam fastball that he throws at 91–95 mph, a changeup that he grips like a split-fingered fastball (his "out pitch" against left handers), a curveball, notable for its sharp 12-6 action, a slider (his "out pitch" against right handers), and a power four-seam fastball that ranges between 93-95 mph.

High school and college

Lincecum attended Liberty Senior High School in Renton, Washington, where he played two seasons of varsity baseball. As a senior he won state player of the year and led his school to the 2003 3A state championship.

After high school Lincecum went on to pitch for the University of Washington. In 2006 he finished with a 12–4 record and a 1.94 ERA, 199 strikeouts, and three saves in 125⅓ innings as a Washington Husky. He won the 2006 Golden Spikes Award, which is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player.

In the summer of 2004 Lincecum played for the amateur National Baseball Congress (NBC) Seattle Studs and won two games in the NBC World Series that year. In 2009 he was named NBC Graduate of the Year.

In the summer of 2005 he played for the Harwich Mariners in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Draft and minor league career

Lincecum was selected by the Chicago Cubs of the NL in the forty-eighth round (1,408th overall) of the 2003 MLB Draft, but did not sign. He decided to attend college instead, and was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the forty-second round (1,261st overall) upon re-entering the draft in 2005, but once again failed to sign. The next year, he was drafted tenth overall by the San Francisco Giants, becoming the first player from the University of Washington to be taken in the first round. He signed for a $2.025 million signing bonus on June 30, which at the time was the highest amount the organization had ever paid to any amateur player (until they gave $2.1 million to Angel Villalona a little over a month later).

During his brief minor league career he was frequently named as the top pitching prospect in the Giants organization.

Lincecum made his professional debut on July 26, 2006, with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (the Giants' Class A Short Season affiliate) against the Vancouver Canadians, pitching one inning and striking out all three batters he faced. After his second outing on July 31 against the Boise Hawks, in which he pitched three innings, striking out seven and allowing just one baserunner, he was promoted to the High Class-A San Jose Giants.

On August 5, in his first start in San Jose against the Bakersfield Blaze, he pitched 2⅔ innings, allowing three runs (two earned), and striking out five. Lincecum finished the year 2–0 with a 1.95 ERA, 48 strikeouts, and 12 walks in 27⅔ innings pitched. He also got the victory in the opening game of the California League playoffs, giving up one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out ten and walking one against the Visalia Oaks. Visalia would win the series 3–2.

Going into 2007 Lincecum was ranked as the #11 prospect in baseball and the #1 prospect in the San Francisco Giants by Baseball America. He spent the first month of the season pitching for the Fresno Grizzlies, the Giants' Triple-A affiliate. In five starts (31 innings), he allowed just one run, twelve hits, eleven walks, while striking out forty-six and going 4–0. During his 2006 and 2007 minor league campaigns, Lincecum struck out the highest percentage of batters (minimum 100) of any minor league pitcher in the last ten years: 30.9 percent.

In the spring of 2007 Colorado Rockies prospect Ian Stewart called Lincecum "the toughest pitcher [he] ever faced," adding "Guys on our club who have been in the big leagues said he’s the toughest guy they ever faced too … I’m not really sure why he’s down here, but for a guy who was drafted last year … that guy is filthy."

Major league career

With an injury to the Giants' fifth starter, Russ Ortiz, Lincecum was called up from Fresno to make his first major league start on May 6, 2007, against the Philadelphia Phillies. He earned a no-decision; the Giants ultimately lost the game, 8–5. In his first career inning, Lincecum gave up two hits and two runs, and struck out three.

He earned his first major league win in his next start, on the road against the Rockies. Lincecum, who is often compared to Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Oswalt, faced him in each of his next two starts, Oswalt with the Astros at the time. After the first match-up, Astros third baseman Mike Lamb said, "The stuff he was throwing out there tonight was everything he's hyped up to be. He was 97 mph with movement. You just don't see that every day. He pitched very much like the pitcher he is compared to and out-dueled him throughout the night." The pair dueled to a no-decision the first time, and Lincecum pitched eight innings and got the win the second time.

In his first four starts in June he allowed twenty-two earned runs in 18⅔ innings, for a 10.61 ERA. He failed to make it to the fifth inning in any of the last three starts, against Oakland, Toronto, and Milwaukee. In July, he went 4–0 with a 1.62 ERA. On July 1, in a seven inning performance against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he struck out twelve, the fourth highest total ever by a Giants rookie.

Lincecum pitched into the ninth inning for the first time on August 21 against the Chicago Cubs. He had allowed just two hits and one walk through the first eight, while throwing only eighty-eight pitches. He took a 1–0 lead into the ninth, but allowed three consecutive hits before being pulled. The Cubs scored several times against the Giants bullpen and Lincecum took the loss. Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot said after the game, "He's got electric stuff. The best stuff I've seen all year."

Lincecum was shut down in September as a precaution, due to his high inning count in his first full year of professional ball. Between the minors and the majors, he pitched a total of 177⅓ innings.

2008

The Giants asked Lincecum not to throw the bullpen sessions typical of other pitchers during the off-season. Manager Bruce Bochy told the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' that they were being careful with Lincecum because there have been studies that show that pitchers who throw 200 innings early in their career were more susceptible to injuries.

On May 15, 2008, after Lincecum struck out ten Houston Astros in six innings, Houston first baseman Lance Berkman offered his view of Lincecum: "He's got as good of stuff as I've ever seen. ... He's got three almost unhittable pitches." After falling to Lincecum and the Giants 6–3 on May 27, Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Conor Jackson gave his impression of facing Lincecum: "He's got good stuff," Jackson said. "From what I saw tonight, that's the best arm I've seen all year, no doubt. You've got to almost hit a ball right down the middle. You're going to pop up the ball at your bellybutton, which we all did tonight, and the one down, it's coming in at 98 mph, you're not going to put too much good wood on it. Even the ones down the middle are coming at 98. He's good, man."

Lincecum was on the cover of the July 7, 2008, issue of ''Sports Illustrated'', and on July 6, he was selected to play in his first Major League Baseball All-Star Game. However, he was hospitalized the day of the game due to flu-like symptoms and was unavailable to pitch. In a July 26 game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he struck out thirteen batters in seven innings while allowing only seven hits, two earned runs, and no walks.

Lincecum pitched his first complete game shutout against the San Diego Padres on September 13, 2008. In nine innings he threw 138 pitches, gave up four hits and struck out twelve batters. On September 23, he broke Jason Schmidt's San Francisco single-season strikeout record with his 252nd strikeout of the season against the Colorado Rockies. He finished the season with 265 strikeouts (54 of them three-pitch strikeouts, the most in the majors), making him the first San Francisco pitcher to win the (NL) strikeout title, and the first Giant since Bill Voiselle in 1944. His 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched were the best in the majors, and his .316 slugging-percentage-against was the lowest in the major leagues, as was his .612 OPS-against—but his seventeen wild pitches tied for the most in the major leagues. His 138 pitches on September 13 were the most by any pitcher in a game in 2008. He finished the season with an 18-5 record. On November 11, 2008, Lincecum was awarded the NL Cy Young Award, making him the second Giant to win the award after Mike McCormick.

2009

After winning the NL Cy Young Award in 2008 Lincecum continued his dominance in the NL. On July 3, Lincecum was announced as the NL Pitcher of the Month for June. In his six June starts he went 4–1 with a 1.38 ERA, and pitched three complete games. Lincecum was announced as an NL All-Star along with his teammate Matt Cain. He was also the starting pitcher for the NL. Lincecum went two innings in the All-Star Game, giving up two runs, one earned, and striking out one.

Through twenty starts in 2009 Lincecum had amassed an 11–3 record with a 2.30 ERA, 183 strikeouts, four complete games, and two shutouts. Lincecum also had a twenty-nine scoreless inning streak, third-best since the Giants moved west in 1958.

On July 27, 2009, Lincecum pitched a complete game and had fifteen (15) strikeouts against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a career high. He is the first Giant pitcher to strike out fifteen since Jason Schmidt fanned sixteen (16) on June 6, 2006.

Lincecum missed his first game since coming up to the big leagues on September 8 against the San Diego Padres. Madison Bumgarner took his place that day, making his major league debut. Lincecum was healthy enough to make his next start on September 14, pitching seven innings with eleven strikeouts lowering his ERA to 2.30, and picking up his fourteenth win of the year. Lincecum finished the 2009 season with a 15–7 record, 2.48 ERA and 261 strikeouts. Following the season, Lincecum was named ''Sporting News'' NL Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive year. He was later cited during a traffic stop on October 30 for misdemeanor possession of marijuana. On November 19, Lincecum was awarded his second consecutive Cy Young Award, narrowly edging out St. Louis Cardinals pitchers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, who actually had the most first place votes. In doing so, he became the first pitcher in history to be awarded the Cy Young in each of his first two full seasons in the Major League Baseball.

2010

Lincecum continued his dominance in the league by starting 5–0. His strikeouts piled up quickly and was atop the Major Leagues in the category through the early season. However, issues concerning Lincecum's control over the movement of his pitches arose when he walked five batters for the fourth consecutive start on May 31. Although the early struggles have been mostly dismissed as a "lack of confidence" or "mental" issues, Lincecum himself admits that the slump lasted "longer than I was hoping it would".

Lincecum eventually recovered somewhat from his slump and made the 2010 National League All-Star Team. As of the All-Star break, Lincecum was 9–4 with a 3.16 ERA over 116.2 innings pitched. One of his great first half accomplishments was that Lincecum defeated Houston's Roy Oswalt three times in three months. All three games were pitchers duels.

On July 15, 2010, in his first start after the All-Star game, Lincecum pitched a six-hit, complete game shutout against the New York Mets.

After a disappointing August, Lincecum came out of his slump on September 1; pitching against one of the league's top pitchers, Ubaldo Jimenez, Lincecum went 8 strong innings of 1 run ball. This was Lincecum's first win since July 30. Lincecum continued to improve throughout September, finishing 5–1 with 52 strikeouts and 6 walks as compared to the 20/13 ratio in August. Lincecum managed to win his third consecutive National League strikeout title, he also set a record for most strikeouts by a MLB pitcher in his first four seasons.

On October 7, 2010, in his first postseason game, Lincecum pitched a complete game two-hit shutout, striking out 14, against the Atlanta Braves in game 1 of the NLDS, breaking the all time record for strikeouts in Giants postseason history. In his next postseason start, he outdueled Roy Halladay by pitching 7 innings and giving up 3 earned runs, while striking out 8 in the Giants' 4–3 victory over the Phillies in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

Lincecum pitched in both Games 1 and 5 of the World Series, earning a win in both. Game 1 of the 2010 World Series saw Lincecum contribute to an 11–7 win over the Texas Rangers. After presenting a strong start, he sat out the final 3 1/3 innings as the San Francisco bullpen preserved a comfortable win. On November 1, 2010, Lincecum started Game 5 of the World Series with an opportunity to clinch a world championship for San Francisco. Lincecum utilized all his pitches in throwing 8 solid innings, collecting 10 strikeouts while giving up only 3 hits, including a home-run, en route to a 3–1 victory. His victory in Game 5 ended the Giants' 56-year drought between championships and also gave San Francisco its first baseball world championship in history. Lincecum also became the franchise leader for wins in a single post-season with 4.

2011

On May 4, he struck out twelve Mets becoming the Giants franchise record holder for the number of games pitched with 10 or more strikeouts with 29, surpassing Hall of Fame "first five" inaugural member Christy Mathewson. Mathewson accumulated his 28 ten-plus-strikeout games in 551 starts over seventeen seasons of pitching for the Giants; Lincecum collected his 29 in 129 starts over five seasons. On May 21, he threw his 8th career complete game and his 5th career shutout, which he threw against the Oakland Athletics. On June 6, he recorded his 1,000th career strikeout against the Washington Nationals, striking out Jerry Hairston, Jr.. He accomplished this during his fifth year in the Major Leagues, becoming only the eighth pitcher in history to do so. He is now 2nd all time on that list.

Pitch repertoire

Lincecum throws a four seam fastball at 91–94 mph, but mostly uses a two seam fastball grip which he throws around 90–93 mph for more sinking movement to get more ground balls. This pitch has little lateral movement, due to his overhand delivery and the speed at which the pitch is thrown. He has a big breaking curveball that is thrown at a range of 77–81 mph and breaks away from a right-handed hitter. Lincecum uses a changeup that he grips similar to a splitter with sinking two-seam action. His changeup appears similar to his fastball for the first 30 feet, but then dives down sharply tailing away from a left handed batter, with a difference of 10 mph or more in velocity from his fastball (82–85 mph). The majority of his strikeouts are recorded with this pitch. Lincecum also has a hard slider that breaks down and away from a right-handed hitter at a speed slightly higher than his changeup (84–88 mph). With his power fastball and strong secondary pitches, he has established himself as one of the elite pitchers in the game.

Accomplishments

2011 National League All Star

2010 World Series Champion

2010 Babe Ruth Award Winner

2010 National League All Star

2009 NL Cy Young Award winner

2009 National League All Star

2009 NL All-Star Starting Pitcher

2008 NL Cy Young Award winner

''Sporting News''' NL Pitcher of the Year (2009)

2008 National League All Star

2008 Major League Baseball Starter of the Year

Led Major League Baseball with 265 strikeouts (2008)

''Sporting News''' NL Pitcher of the Year (2008) Player's Choice Award for NL's outstanding pitcher (2008) ''Major League Baseball 2K9'' and ''Major League Baseball 2K9 Fantasy All-Stars'' cover athlete 2006 Golden Spikes Award 2003 Gatorade Washington State Baseball Player of the Year

Records

First pitcher in MLB history to be awarded the Cy Young in each of his first two full seasons

MLB record-holder for most strikeouts thrown in the first four seasons of a career

Giants franchise leader for wins in a single post-season - 4, set in 2010

Giants franchise record holder for the number of games pitched with 10 or more strikeouts -31, May 4, 2011, surpassing Christy Mathewson

Personal

Lincecum is part Filipino. His mother, Rebecca Asis, is a daughter of Filipino immigrants.

Tim uses MGMT's song "Electric Feel" and The Doors song "Light My Fire" as his walk-up music during every game.

References

External links

Washington Huskies bio

The Book on Tim Lincecum from "ScoutingBook.com"

Controlled Fury: Tim Lincecum

How Tiny Tim Became a Pitching Giant from "Sports Illustrated"

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:San Francisco Giants players Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American sportspeople of Filipino descent Category:Baseball players from Washington (state) Category:Cy Young Award winners Category:Golden Spikes Award winners Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:National League All-Stars Category:National League strikeout champions Category:People from Bellevue, Washington Category:Washington Huskies baseball players Category:Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players Category:San Jose Giants players Category:Fresno Grizzlies players Category:American sportspeople of Asian descent

de:Tim Lincecum es:Tim Lincecum fr:Tim Lincecum ko:팀 린스컴 it:Tim Lincecum lv:Tims Linsekums ja:ティム・リンスカム pt:Tim Lincecum simple:Tim Lincecum zh:蒂姆·林斯肯

{{infobox mlb player| name

Jeff Samardzija| imageJeff Samardzija catch crop.jpg| captionSamardzija during college| positionRelief Pitcher| teamChicago Cubs| number29| batsRight| throwsRight| birth_dateJanuary 23, 1985| birthplaceMerrillville, Indiana| debutdateJuly 25| debutyear2008| debutteamChicago Cubs| statyearAugust 19, 2011| stat1labelWin-Loss| stat1value10-9| stat2labelEarned run average| stat2value4.76| stat3labelStrikeouts| stat3value125| teams Chicago Cubs (-present)

Jeffrey Alan Samardzija (Serbian surname form: Самарџија, ''Samardžija''; common pronunciation: "sah-MAHR-jee-yah") (born January 23, 1985, in Merrillville, Indiana) is an American baseball pitcher with the Chicago Cubs organization. He is a former football wide receiver at the University of Notre Dame.

Early years

Samardzija grew up in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he attended Valparaiso High School, and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he was a three-time first team All-State honoree, and was twice named the team's Most Valuable Player. After his senior year, he was invited to participate in the Indiana football All-Star game. In baseball, he was a first team All-State honoree. He graduated from Valparaiso High School in 2003. Athletics were something of the norm early in his life. Father Sam Samardzija was a semi-pro hockey player, and older brother Sam Jr. was an All State football and baseball player at Indiana University who now works as a sports agent in Major League Baseball. When Samardzija was in high school his mother Debora Samardzija died of a fatal disease. She still serves as the main inspiration of her two sons today. Two years later in 2003, his father, Sam, remarried and he now has two half brothers, Jakub and Nick.

College years

Samardzija made his first impact at Notre Dame as a right-handed pitcher for the baseball team, finishing second in the Big East Conference in both ERA (2.95) and opponents' batting average (.209), and being named a Freshman All-American by ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine.'' He continued to play baseball at Notre Dame until he was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 5th round (149th overall) of the Major League Baseball Draft.

In football, he was a reserve for his first two seasons, catching a total of 24 passes. He first started at the 2005 Insight Bowl at the end of his sophomore season. He emerged as a star in the 2005 season, ending the regular season with 77 catches, 15 of them for touchdowns, for 1215 yards and making numerous All-America Teams.

He set single-season school records in both receiving yardage and touchdown receptions. Samardzija caught a TD pass in each of Notre Dame's first eight games in 2006, giving him the school record for consecutive games with a TD reception. Samardzija made 78 catches for 1,017 yards and 12 touchdowns in 13 games in the 2006 season to finish as the all-time Fighting Irish leader in reception yards with 2,593. He made the Football Writers Association of America All-America Team following the 2006 season.

Samardzija was selected as one of the three finalists for the Fred Biletnikoff Award, for the nation's top wide receiver. Although initially planning on trying to play both in the NFL and MLB, Samardzija announced after being selected in the Major League Draft that he would take his name out of the NFL Draft and play baseball.

Pitching for the Chicago Cubs' Short Season Single-A minor league team, Boise, Samardzija boasted a 2.37 ERA and a 1-1 record in the summer of 2006. He was then promoted to the Cubs' Low Single-A affiliate, Peoria, later that summer. Samardzija went 0-1 with a 3.27 ERA in 11 innings at Peoria, before he returned to Notre Dame to practice football for his senior season.

Professional career

On January 19, 2007, Samardzija announced he would forgo the National Football League Draft and commit to a baseball career. Samardzija signed a five-year deal to play baseball with the Chicago Cubs. The deal has a no-trade clause and a club option for a sixth and seventh year. If the club option is exercised, the total value of the deal would be $16.5 million.

Samardzija started the season pitching for Single-A Daytona. The right-hander went 3-8 with a 4.95 ERA. He was called up to Double-A Tennessee on August 3, 2007. He made six starts with a 3-3 record with a 3.41 ERA.

"The numbers, obviously, I'm not too happy about them," Samardzija said. "But I look at the whole season. I learned from it. The middle of the season, I got a little down. It was good to learn from, and to learn how to quickly fix things. I was very happy with how the season ended."

On June 23, , Samardzija was promoted to Triple-A Iowa after posting a 3-5 record in Tennessee with a 4.86 ERA. In his career in Triple-A Iowa, he has posted a 4-1 record and a 3.13 ERA, with 40 strikeouts and 16 walks.

On July 25, 2008, Samardzija was called up to join the bullpen of the Chicago Cubs to replace Kerry Wood, who was placed on the DL. He made his MLB debut the same day against the Florida Marlins, striking out the first batter he faced in the 7th inning. Chicago Cubs Manager Lou Piniella was impressed with Samardzija's major league debut, saying he may never see the minors again. On July 27, 2008, Samardzija recorded his first career major league save against the Florida Marlins.

In 2009 Samardzija was optioned to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs after failing to make the team out of spring training. However, he was quickly called back up only a few games into the season. He quickly returned to Des Moines to pitch for the Iowa Cubs, after posting a 8.10 E.R.A. in 5 appearances. He made his first major league start on August 12 against Pedro Martinez of the Philadelphia Phillies, a 12-5 loss.

In March 2010 Samardzija returned to the Cubs and pitched his first game in exhibition on March 13, 2010. He pitched in four regular season games in April and compiled an 18.90 ERA before being sent back down to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs in order to make space for Ted Lilly on the Cubs roster.

In 2011, Samardzija made the opening day roster as a reliever.

Pitching style

Samardzija throws a 2-seam fastball, 4-seam fastball, splitter, mixed in with a slider and a changeup. Samardzija's fastball is clocked between 96 mph-99 mph and his changeup resides in the mid 80s and his slider is around the low 80s.

Personal

Several of Samardzija's Notre Dame baseball teammates affectionately nicknamed him "Shark", largely due to the size and shape of his nose, early during his career at Notre Dame. Samardzija and former teammate Mark DeRosa, a former University of Pennsylvania quarterback, often used to play catch before games. He is of Serbian descent.

References

External links

Official Website

College Football Profile

College Baseball Profile

Jeff Samardzija Minor League Baseball Pitching Statistics

Jeff Samardzija Turns his Back on the NFL

Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:American people of Serbian descent Category:Chicago Cubs players Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Baseball players from Indiana Category:American football wide receivers Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Category:People from Valparaiso, Indiana Category:Sportspeople of multiple sports Category:Peoria Chiefs players Category:Boise Hawks players Category:Tennessee Smokies players Category:Daytona Cubs players Category:Iowa Cubs players Category:Merrillville, Indiana

es:Jeff Samardzija fr:Jeff Samardzija pt:Jeff Samardzija tl:Jeff Samardzija

Name	Steve Carlton
Position	Pitcher
Bats	Left
Throws	Left
Birth date	December 22, 1944
Birth place	Miami, Florida
Debutdate	April 12
Debutyear	1965
Debutteam	St. Louis Cardinals
Finaldate	April 23
Finalyear	1988
Finalteam	Minnesota Twins
Stat1label	Win–Loss record
Stat1value	329–244
Stat2label	Earned run average
Stat2value	3.22
Stat3label	Strikeouts
Stat3value	4,136
Teams	St. Louis Cardinals (–) Philadelphia Phillies (–) San Francisco Giants () Chicago White Sox () Cleveland Indians () Minnesota Twins (–)
Highlights	10× All-Star selection (1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982) 2× World Series champion (, ) Gold Glove Award winner (1981) 4× NL Cy Young Award winner (1972, 1977, 1980, 1982) 4× NL TSN Pitcher of the Year (1972, 1977, 1980, 1982) Philadelphia Phillies #32 retired
Hofdate
Hofvote	95.8% (first ballot) }}

Steven Norman Carlton (born December 22, 1944), nicknamed "Lefty", is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He pitched from 1965-1988 for six different teams in his career, but it is his time with the Philadelphia Phillies where he received his greatest acclaim as a professional and won four Cy Young Awards. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.

Carlton has the second-most lifetime strikeouts of any left-handed pitcher (4th overall), and the second-most lifetime wins of any left-handed pitcher (11th overall). He was the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards in a career. He held the lifetime strikeout record several times between and , before his contemporary Nolan Ryan passed him. One of his most remarkable records was accounting for nearly half (46%) of his team's wins, when he won 27 games for the last-place (59-97) Phillies. He is still the last National League pitcher to win 25 or more games in one season, as well as the last pitcher from any team to throw more than 300 innings in a season. He also holds the record with the most career balks of any pitcher, with 90 (double the second on the all time list, Bob Welch).

Early years

Carlton was born and raised in Miami, Florida, where he played little league and American Legion baseball during his youth. He attended North Miami High School, and later Miami-Dade Community College. In 1963, while a student at Miami-Dade, he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals for a $5,000 bonus.

St. Louis Cardinals

Carlton debuted with the St. Louis Cardinals as a 20-year-old in 1965 and by was a regular in the Cardinals rotation. An imposing (6'4"/1.93 m) man with a hard fastball and slider, Carlton was soon known as an intimidating and dominant pitcher. Carlton enjoyed immediate success in St. Louis, posting winning records and reaching the World Series in 1967 and 1968. On September 15, , Carlton struck out 19 New York Mets, while losing to the Mets, 4-3, setting the all-time modern-day record at that time for strikeouts in a nine-inning game. That season, he finished with a 17-11 record with a 2.17 ERA, second lowest in the NL, and 210 strikeouts. A contract dispute with the Cardinals made Carlton a no-show at spring training in . He proceeded to go 10-19 with a 3.73 ERA, leading the NL in losses. In , he became a 20-game winner for the first time, going 20-9 with a 3.56 ERA.

Philadelphia Phillies

Following a salary dispute, Cardinals owner Gussie Busch ordered Carlton traded. Eventually, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies before the season for pitcher Rick Wise.

The trade is now considered one of the most lopsided deals in baseball history. However, at the time, the trade appeared to make some sense from the Cardinals' perspective. Carlton had won 77 games to Wise's 75, and both were considered the best pitchers in the game. Tim McCarver, who had caught for Carlton in St. Louis and for Wise in Philadelphia, described the trade as "a real good one for a real good one." He felt that Carlton had more raw talent, but Wise had better command on the mound. Nonetheless, the trade is now reckoned as an epoch-making deal for the Phillies, as well as one of the worst trades in Cardinals history. While Wise stayed in the majors for another 11 years, only two of them (1972 and 1973) were in St. Louis.

In Carlton's first season with Philadelphia, he led the league in wins (27), complete games (30), strikeouts (310), and ERA (1.97), despite playing for a team whose final record was 59-97. His 1972 performance earned him the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year. His having won 46% of his team's victories is a record in modern major league history. Carlton attributed his success to his grueling training regime, which included Eastern martial arts techniques, the most famous of which was twisting his fist to the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket of rice.

Some highlights of Carlton's 1972 season included starting the season with 5 wins and 1 loss, then losing 5 games in a row, during which the Phillies scored only 10 runs. At this point he began a 15-game winning streak. After it ended at a 20-6 record, he finished the final third of the year with 7 more wins and 4 losses, ending with 27 wins and 10 losses. Since he completed 30 of 41 starts, the 1972 Phillies rarely needed the bullpen when Steve Carlton pitched.

During the 18 games of the winning streak (3 were no-decisions), Carlton pitched 155 innings, allowed 103 hits and 28 runs (only 17 in the 15 winning games), issued 39 walks, and had 140 strikeouts. From July 19, 1972 to August 13, 1972 he pitched six complete games, won six games, allowed only 1 earned run, and threw four shutouts. Over this period he pitched 56 innings, allowing only one unearned run. Steve had three pitches, a rising fastball, a legendary slider, and a long looping curve ball. Baseball commentators during 1972 regularly remarked that Steve's slider was basically unhittable. He was also a good hitter for a pitcher. At times he pinch-hit for the Phillies during 1972.

Carlton's relationship with the media

Carlton slumped in , losing 20 games. The media's open questioning of his unusual training techniques led to an acrimonious relationship between them and Carlton, and he severed all ties with the media, refusing to answer press questions for the rest of his career with the Phillies. This reached a point where, in , while the Mexican rookie Fernando Valenzuela was achieving stardom with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a reporter remarked, ''"The two best pitchers in the National League don't speak English: Fernando Valenzuela and Steve Carlton."

More success

Carlton continued to enjoy many years of success with the Phillies, winning the Cy Young Award in , , , and , and pitching the Phillies to the best string of post-season appearances in club history. Carlton was the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards, a mark later matched by Greg Maddux, and exceeded by Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson. His Cy Young Award in 1972 was by unanimous vote, and he finished fifth in balloting for the National League MVP. Gradually the Phillies improved their team, and won the National League East three consecutive times from 1976-78. In 1980, Carlton helped the Phillies win their first World Series, personally winning the final game.

Carlton won a Gold Glove Award for his fielding in , and helped the Phillies to another pennant in 1983, but lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. On September 23, 1983, in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Carlton won the 300th game of his career, becoming the 15th pitcher to accomplish the feat.

Race with Nolan Ryan and Gaylord Perry for the all time strikeout record

Over a three year period between -, Carlton was involved in an interesting pitching duel with Nolan Ryan and Gaylord Perry, in which they often traded places at the top of the all-time strikeout list.

At the start of the 1982 season, the 55-year-old mark of the great Walter Johnson still stood at 3,508 strikeouts, but now there were three pitchers who would start the season within 100 strikeouts of Johnson: Nolan Ryan (3,494), Gaylord Perry (3,452), and Carlton (3,434). Ryan would be the first to surpass Johnson on April 22, 1983 against the Montreal Expos. However a stint on the disabled list shortly after he set the record, combined with a spectacular season by Carlton, allowed Carlton to make up ground and on June 7, 1983, Carlton passed Ryan as the all-time strikeout king with 3,526 to Ryan's 3,524. There would be a total of 14 lead changes and one tie that season, often after each of their respective starts, before the season ended with Carlton leading 3,709 to 3,677. Gaylord Perry, aging and in his final season, was never a huge factor, although he did eventually pass Johnson to finish his career with 3,534 strikeouts. Since then five other pitchers have surpassed Johnson's mark and he has fallen to ninth place on the all time strikeout list.

There would be five more lead changes and a tie in before Carlton ran out of gas. His last-ever lead in the all-time strikeout race was after his start on September 4, 1984, when he struck out four Cubs to lead Ryan by three (3,857 to 3,854). Although the season ended with a mere two-strikeout lead for Ryan (3,874 to 3,872), Carlton had an injury-riddled season in 1985 and an even worse season in 1986 before being released by the Phillies just 18 strikeouts short of 4,000.

Post-Phillies

San Francisco Giants

He joined the San Francisco Giants, but pitched ineffectively save for seven shutout innings in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in which he also hit a 3-run homer for his only win as a Giant. He would hang around just long enough to collect his 4,000th strikeout (against Eric Davis) before retiring. He went 1-3 with a 5.10 ERA in six games for the Giants. He did however break his self imposed boycott of the media, giving a press conference after signing with the Giants.

Chicago White Sox

His retirement was brief: he almost immediately signed with the Chicago White Sox for the remainder of the season. He was surprisingly effective, going 4-3 with a respectable 3.69 ERA, but was not offered a contract for 1987.

Cleveland Indians

He joined the lowly Cleveland Indians, where his most notable achievement was teaming up with Phil Niekro in a game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, where they became the first teammates and 300-game winners to appear in the same game. Both were ineffective in a 10-6 Yankee victory. It would be his first and only pitching appearance in Yankee Stadium, having spent the majority of his career in the National League before the inception of interleague play. (He was selected to the 1977 National League All-Star team which was held in Yankee Stadium, but he didn't appear in the game.)

Minnesota Twins

He was traded to the Minnesota Twins, where he was yet again ineffective. He went a combined 6-14 with a 5.74 ERA for both the Indians and Twins. However the Twins, who had been a bad team for most of the 1980s, would go on to a surprising win in the 1987 World Series, albeit without Carlton on the postseason roster, to earn him a third World Series ring and a trip to the White House to meet President Reagan along with his teammates. Interestingly, when Carlton was photographed with his teammates at the White House, newspapers listed each member of the team with the notable exception of Carlton. Instead, Carlton was listed as an ''"unidentified Secret Service agent."'' The Twins brought him back in but he lasted only a month (0-1 16.76 ERA in four games) before the Twins released him.

Retirement

He attempted to find work in but found no takers. The closest thing to an offer was the New York Yankees offering him the use of their facilities for training purposes but no spot on the spring training team. Nolan Ryan would pitch until and would extend his strikeout lead over Carlton to almost 1,600 before retiring. Carlton would eventually fall to third and then fourth place on the all time strikeout list after Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson passed him.

Legacy

A ten-time All-Star, Carlton led the league in many pitching categories. He struck out 4,136 batters in his career, setting a record for a left-handed pitcher (since surpassed by Randy Johnson), and holds many other records for both left-handed and Phillies pitchers. His 329 career wins are the eleventh most in baseball history, behind Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, and Warren Spahn among pitchers of the live-ball era (post-).

Carlton picked 144 runners off base, by far the most in Major League Baseball since pickoff records began being collected in 1957. Jerry Koosman is second with 82.

He never threw a no hitter, but pitched six one-hitters.

Carlton was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in with 96% of the vote, one of the highest percentages ever. The Phillies retired his number 32, and honored him with a statue outside Veterans Stadium that was later moved to Citizens Bank Park (along with a similar statue of fellow Phillies Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt).

In 1998, ''The Sporting News'' ranked him number 30 on its list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. In 1999, he was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Despite his career-long rivalry with Ryan, Carlton maintains his greatest rival was Tom Seaver.

His losing 19-strikeout effort against the Mets was a microcosm of his career against them. While he posted 30 wins against them during his career, they bested him 36 times.

Carlton appeared in an episode of ''Married... with Children'', playing himself in an episode where former athletes humiliate Al Bundy while filming a shoe commercial. In the episode, Bud asks him for an autograph and he is shown writing with his right hand.

See also

300 win club

3000 strikeout club

4000 strikeout club

List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins

Triple Crown

List of Major League Baseball ERA champions

List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions

List of Major League Baseball wins champions

List of pitchers who have struck out 18 or more batters in a nine-inning MLB game

Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time

Major League Baseball titles leaders

Hall of Fame

Steve was inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in the year 1994, his first year of eligibility.

References

External links

Steve Carlton Official Website

Philly.com: Steve Carlton photo gallery

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de:Steve Carlton es:Steve Carlton fr:Steve Carlton ja:スティーブ・カールトン sh:Steve Carlton zh:史提夫·卡爾頓