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Personally, I think it was a huge mistake when Tim Lincecum forced the direction of his hair growth to change from out of the top of his head to out of the front of his face, but hey, I'm no hair expert.
Even though he's having an off year, statistically, and also hair-wise, Lincecum just pitched a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres - his second in two years (against the Padres) and the second NL West no-hitter in, like, a week. However, instead of just throwing the baseball well, he also hit it admirably, notching a pair of base hits and a pair of scored runs to support his own campaign like some kind of guy who is good at several things.
"Oh my, that's so impressive," the analysts will say. Probably Harold Reynolds. "A pitcher isn't usually a good hitter, you see. So to not allow any hits and then also hit some hits is quite a feat." Then he and Brian Kenny will start screaming at each other. It'll be great.
Quite a feat, indeed. It hasn't been done for over 40 years. Back then, the multi-hit no-no's were handled by a different team.
#SFGiants Tim Lincecum is the first pitcher to toss a no-hitter and have a mult-hit game since #Phillies Rick Wise on June 23, 1971.
— Ace of MLB Stats (@AceballStats) June 25, 2014
There have been 50 no-hitters in which the pitcher batted between Rick Wise's on June 23, 1971 and Tim Lincecum's today.
— Ace of MLB Stats (@AceballStats) June 25, 2014
Wise endeared himself greatly to Philadelphia after that game. In 1971, he went 17-14 with a 2.88 ERA, 155 SO, 70 BB and 17 CG (four shutouts). The people loved him. They weren't a great team, those 1971 Phillies, but Wise was one of the redeeming factors.
Naturally, he was soon traded to the Cardinals for Steve Carlton, who became the city's sweetheart with another terrible Phillies team - one of the worst in the history of baseball - behind him in 1972.
I think this was actually a Dodge Stump the Fans Trivia Question the other night.