Tim Lincecum: Hall of Famer?

Did Soto have arm troubles? He fell off the map pretty quickly and pretty young.

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/242626-pete-rose-killed-mario-soto

 

So, Rose was the white Dusty Baker?

 

The point is that they are an apt comparison to one another.

 

If all you are comparing is size, then yes, they are apt comparisons. I'll even give you flash in the pan comparisons, but you really can't compare the two when talking HOF possibilities. Timmy has 2 Cy Young to Mario's none. Two World Series titles to Mario's none. Two no hitters to Mario's none. He was a four time all star and led the league in strike outs three consecutive years. Tim has reached 100 wins in fewer decisions and is still going.

That said, no, Timmy is not an HOFer yet. Not by a long shot. He either needs to reinvent himself as a closer and dominate there or figure out how to pitch with a slower fast ball. He basically needs to pull a John Smoltz if we're going to see him in the hall.

 

He has titles? This isn't fuking tennis, dude.
Your usage of the diminutive suggests you have a bias.

 

So how many rings does Mario have? Actually, give me this: how many post season wins does Mario have? I'll give you a hint, the number isn't high.

No bias, because Timmy has been pissing me off for the last three years, but the point still stands. If he reinvents himself as a starter and starts rattling off 18-win seasons or he goes in the pen and gets 200 saves, this conversation changes. Otherwise, he gets votes, but never becomes an HOFer.

 

That you're still equating team success with individual greatness show you're not getting it.
Soto played for mostly terrible teams. One division winner as a 22-year-old, in which he made 25 relief appearances.
I'll anunciate my bias- I'm a kid from Santa Clarita and I hate the fucking Giants.

 

Who are Lincecum's career comps, i.e. someone who was that dominant briefly, and then fell off the map? Mario Soto has been brought up, although he wasn't as good as Lincecum. Who else? Gooden?

 

I think Mike Scott is a decent comparison.
He had more of a bell curve to his career, though.
But when he was on top he was one of the best.

 

How about Doc Gooden or Saberhagen?

 

And I fucking hate So Cal, specifically Chavez Ravine, so I feel you.

I know the difference between individual success and team success, but I don't think you can have one without the other. Not many people you can say were legendary players who were on bad teams—I think you get it once in a Barry Sanders. Jeter doesn't have the conversation about being one of the best hitting short stops if he doesn't play for the Yankees, or at least on a team with similar success over 20 years.

It's a fair assessment to judge Lincecum on how he does in the toughest situations like the playoffs and give him a bump accordingly. Yes that requires the team to be good, but he still needed to be good right along with them.