World Series: The impact of a Filipino American & a Japanese American

Jeremy Guthrie

AS BASEBALL'S POPULARITY grows throughout the world, players from other countries are starting to get the attention of major league teams. We've seen the influx of players from the Caribbean and how they're impacting the game.  Players from Asia, namely Taiwan, South Korea and Japan have also are making strides in the big leagues. They're easy to spot by their surnames.

However, Asian American players are a little tougher to identify. Many have Latino or European last names. Despite growing up with the sport in Little League, Babe Ruth and school teams, they're still a relative rarity.

We recently wrote about Kolten Wong of the St. Louis Cardinals and Travis Ishikawa of the Giants and their contributions to the post-season. 

Let's start with another Asian American player -- Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, who throttled the Giants' hitters for five innings in Game 3 and was the eventual winning pitcher.

Born and raised in Hawaii, Guthrie's mother is of Japanese descent.

After graduating from Stanford in 2002 he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians. He bounced around several teams until he was picked up by the Royals where blossomed into one of Kansas City's top hurlers.

The Freak

ALMOST forgotten in the post season is the Giant's Tim Lincecum, a Filipino American, who grew up in the Seattle area and played for the University of the Washington Huskies.

His mother is a third-generation Filipino American. Her grandparents immigrated to Hawaii as part of the sakada movement to work on the sugar plantation. 

Though he is reluctant to talk about his mother, who divorced Tim's father when Lincecum was in high school, he freely acknowledges his Filipino roots. The death of his mother's father, Lolo Asis, impacted him deeply. In interviews, he calls himself Filipino, not half-Filipino.

Tim Lincecum's role with the Giants may have been
diminished, but he's still a fan favorite.ilipino, not half-Filipino.

Oh yeah, lest we forget, Lincecum was winner of two consecutive Cy Young Awards in the National League in 2008 and 2009. He probably should have won the award for the National League's best pitcher in 2010, too, after winning his two World Series starts against the American League's Texas Rangers including his dominating performance in Game 5 in which he struck out 10 leading to the Giant's first World Series championship in 56 years.

From 2008 to 2010, his stuff was unhittable. His reputation of having the "nastiest" pitches were well-deserved. He holds the Giant's record for having the most games with 10 strikeouts or more.

Alas, in recent year's he's fallen on hard times. His fastball has lost its velocity and his 
control has been unpredictable. 

What is not sporadic is the love fans have for him. When Lincecum came in as a reliever in the 2nd game against the Kansas City Royals, Finnerty's, the New York bar known for its loyal Giants following, exploded in cheers and TV watchers stood up and applauded.

It was the first time "The Freak" was called into a game this post-seasson. People were wondering if Bruce Bochy, the Giants manager, had lost faith on his one-time All-Star.  For an inning and two-thirds, he looked like the Lincecum of old.

Then he tweaked his back and had to be taken out. By Game 3, he was deemed ready to go by the team doctors. What role he'll play the rest of the game is uncertain, but my guess is that Lincecum will pitch again before this series is over.

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