The Golden Sombrero presents Rookie Card Corner: Tim Lincecum 2007 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks & Prospects

Fun Fact: In his senior year at Liberty High School, Tim went 12-1 with a 0.70 ERA and 183 strikeouts in 91.2 innings.  He was named Washington’s Gatorade Player of the Year, as well as First Team All-State, while leading Liberty to 3A State Championship.

The Golden Sombrero presents Rookie Card Corner: Colby Lewis 2000 Bowman Draft Picks

Fun Fact: Colby lead Japan’s Central League in strikeouts in both 2008(189) and 2009(186) as a member of the Hiroshima Carp.

Hits were scarce for the San Francisco Giants in Game 3 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers.  And then there was Pat Burrell.  Pat “The Bat” wore the golden sombrero, turning in an 0-4, 4K performance that included three against starter Colby Lewis, and a final one against closer Neftali Feliz to lead off the ninth.

Against Lewis, Burrell swung through — what felt like — every slider and curveball.  He fouled a couple of them off, but it seemed like he was just delaying the inevitable rather than staying alive.

Neftali Feliz made quick work of the Burrell to lead off the ninth with a series of high 90s fastballs.  After seeing a steady diet of offspeed pitches from Lewis, he appeared overmatched and unable to adjust to Feliz’s heat.

Burrell joins teammate Andres Torres as the only players to notch a golden sombrero in the 2010 postseason.

The Golden Sombrero presents MLB Look-alikes World Series Edition: David Murphy and Alan Ruck

It helps if you picture Murphy with a full head of hair, or Ruck after an afternoon with a bic.

Still not convinced? Fair enough, let’s go a second round:

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Naturally when I went to school this morning, the members of the Dallas faithful I share the lecture hall and lab with were a little quiet and obviously disappointed.  They know I spent a little time between the lines and in the dugout and that I write for this site, and so they come to me with their baseball-related queries.  I must have answered, “What the hell happened to Cliff last night, dude,” around 15 times.  My responses always started with something along the lines of, “Dude, he wasn’t all that bad.”  How could a start in which Cliff Lee, probably the premier pitcher in the game today, gives up six earned and retires only 14 batters not be regarded as disastrous?

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