Danielle Kang wins her first Women's PGA championship

Danielle Kang

BY WINNING her first Women’s PGA Championship, Danielle Kang finally lived up to the promise that was expected when as a amateur golf champion she decided to turn pro.

The San Francisco golfer birdied the 18th hole to win the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club outside of Chicago on Sunday.

After winning on the 18th hole, the 24-year old Kang teared up.

"If I could wish anything, I would wish that my dad saw me won,'' said Kang, wiping tears from her eyes. "I think that it's been a really difficult road for me the past four or five years. It's life, though, you pick yourself up and you have to keep working hard at it, and then believe in what you're doing, and not letting yourself down. Kang's father, who caddied for her at the beginning of her golf career, passed away of cancer in 2013.

Kang is probably most famous for playing in the 2007 U.S. Women's Open as a 14-year-old, but it's taken her a while to learn how to win as a professional. 

Her first WPGA win was her 31st major championship and just her first top 10. She's also played in nearly 200 events as a pro on the LPGA Tour before grabbing that first win. 

MLB investigates allegations of domestic abuse vs. Cub's Addison Russell

INSTAGRAM

Addison and Melisa Russell.

ADDISON RUSSELL, the Filipino/American All-Star shortstop has been accused of commiting domestic abuse.

In a statement issued by the Chicago Cubs, Russell issued a brief statement:

"Any allegation I have abused my wife is false and hurtful,'' said Russell, 23 years old and the father of two. "For the well-being of my family, I'll have no further comment."

During Wednesday night's Cubs game against the Marlins, in which Addison Russell did not play, Melisa Russell posted a photo of herself in a bathing suit in a body of water accompanied by the text, which read: "Being free to be able to make your own choices for your own happiness beats being cheated on, lied to, & disrespected any day. #herestonewbeginnings #onlygetsbetterfromhere"

"Hateful is cheating on your wife, mentally and physically abusing her,'' family friend Carli Reed wrote in response. "Melisa didn't want that out but I'll say it. He hit her. In front of (kids) Aiden and Mila.''

"Last night, we were made aware of a serious claim posted on social media about Addison Russell. We reached out to Major League Baseball and, following the protocol established by MLB, will fully cooperate with the Commissioner's Office as it gathers pertinent facts," the Cubs said in a statement Thursday (June 8).

Following protocol, Major League Baseball is conducting an investigation on the allegations.

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Jeremy Lin's hair-raising new look

'Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'

KEEPING UP with Jeremy Lin's hairstyles can be a job unto itself. You can never tell what look he's going to use for any particular game.

His latest look can best be described as Jimmy Neutronic, after the cartoon character.

RELATED: 

• What's up with Jeremy Lin's hair?
• Jeremy Lin meets up the Asian/American 'Hulk'
• Jeremy Lin gets real

Even Lin was impressed with the work of his hair stylist. "Didn't think it'd be possible," wrote the Brooklyn Nets point guard on his Instagram post accompanying a picture of his new look.

The only Chinese/American player in the NBA has had plenty of time to experiment with his hair since he's been injured most of this season.

Lin, 30, has played in just 12 games for the Nets and none since Dec. 26 because of a hamstring injury. He would only explain his latest crazy ‘do by saying it’s for a “secret project.”

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NY Times: When Linsanity happened

Restaurateur David Chang was interviewed in the New York Times video about Jeremy Lin.

THE NEW YORK TIMES put together yesterday (Oct. 25) a video (see below) about Linsanity that talks about the impact basketball player Jeremy Lin had on all Asian/Americans that goes way beyond the basketball court.

He's not the greatest b-ball player, not even among the elite, but his play is good enough for the NBA and there are times when he can be spectacular. But it is his mere presence in an arena where you rarely see Asian/Americans that is significant.

You talk about a bamboo ceiling, Lin's journey is circuitous but something that will be talked about for generations!

RELATED:

• Jeremy Lin gets real
• What's up with Jeremy Lin's hair?
• Fit in or be true to yourself?
• Lin opens up about race

In a commentary accompanying the video, NYT writer Andrew Keh said:

"An absence of reference points for Asian identity in popular culture has helped create a perpetual stream of hackneyed encounters, for men and women, children and adults.

"'In elementary school, it was Jackie Chan,' my friend Daniel Sin, a fellow hoops addict and Korean-American, told me about playing pickup ball. 'In high school, it was Yao Ming. At the gym now, it’s Jeremy Lin. When it first happened, around Linsanity, I thought: Nice. At least I’m a guard now.'”

The remarks by the interviewees that featured some prominent Asian/Americans such as Eddie Huang, Jeff Yang and Randall Park put Lin's ascendancy in the context of where Asian/Americans fit into today's pop culture.

Lin himself has often expressed the burden of being one of the few Asian/Americans in the NBA and the racial taunts and slights that go along with that.

“You can just take the racial element alone,” Lin said on the Brooklyn Nets media day last month. “You can add on so many other factors, but really anything I do is hyper-magnified in a good way or a bad way. People are quick to discount me or say certain things because of my race. And when I do well, people are quick to say he’s so amazing, he’s the truth, whatever, because of my race, because of the way I look." 

"There's this whole thing where it's OK to make fun of certain guys more than it is other guys," Lin tells Pablo S. Torre of ESPN. "And Asians are very easy to make fun of. We're the model minority. So everyone can joke about Asians: They're nice people, respectful people; they won't do anything." He thinks about this dynamic often. "People look at me, and they've always jumped to conclusions. They don't see toughness. But how do you define that?"

Lin is back in the nation's biggest media market that drives much of what is written about across the nation's newsrooms and delivered to U.S.'s readers. You can expect the scrutiny that he receives in New York City, where Linsanity began when he was with the New York Knicks, to only intensify. 

Jeremy Lin's journey is not over but even if he doesn't make the NBA record books or into the NBA Hall of Fame, he's already made his mark in the world. Somewhere on hardwood courts or outdoor playgrounds, there are Asian/American kids dribbling basketballs or  shooting hoops dreaming of becoming a pro-basketball player - just like Jeremy Lin. 

ESPN's Pablo Torre wrote the first indepth article about Jeremy Lin that touched on his race and stereotypes.
Read it here.

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Addison Russell - a baseball star we can cheer for in the World Series

Instagram

Addison Russel kisses his wife, who is also Filipno/American after the Cubs clinched the National League title.

AFTER 71 YEARS of frustration, the Chicago Cubs are in the World Series and  due - in no small measure - to the play of sophomore shortstop Addison Russell. 

The Cubs won the National League title Friday (Oct. 21) by beating the L.A. Dodgers, four games to two in a best of seven series.

If you're not a fan of cross-town rival White Sox, and you don't have any skin in the game, Filipino/American Addison is a good reason to cheer on the underdog Cubs, (to mix metaphors) the Bad News Bears of Major League Baseball. The first game of the World Series between the Cubs and the American League champions, the Cleveland Indians startsTuesday.

RELATED: The Cubs' Filipino/American All-Star shortstop

Since the still-undiagnosed decline of two-time Cy Young-winner Tim Lincecum - one of my favorite players - Addison may be the antidote to that void. He's an All-Star calibre shortstop and he's just coming around as becoming an offensive threat. 

More importantly, at an age (22) when all the adulation can easily turn one arrogant and boastful, he remains humble and proud of his Asian/American heritage.

TGIF FEATURE: Are you smarter than the "old guy' Nathan Adrian?

JUST FOR FUN. 

Nathan Adrian, who won two golds and two bronzes during the Rio Olympics for the U.S. swim team last month took some time off training for a fun interview. The graduate of the University of California, Berkeley  was asked a series of questions by a Swimming World interviewer.

The 27-year old swimmer Adrian was raised in Bremerton, Washington, with his older brother and sister, both of whom swam competitively for their college teams. 

Adrian said earlier that he plans to compete in the 2020 Olympics that will be held in Tokyo. It would be his third Olympics. The Chinese/American athlete currently lives in Berkeley, California.

If heralded teammate Michael Phelps doesn't return for Tokyo, Adrian will be the old man of the team, at age 31. It took him a while to process that, he told Sporting News.

“Oh yeah, that transition comes real quick,” he said. “Then all the sudden, people are asking if you are retiring and they call you an old guy. I like the word veteran better. I would love to be in Tokyo. I think Japan is ready to host an amazing Games, just as Rio has done. And I will be just trying to get better.”

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2016 Olympics wrap up for AAPI athletes

The Rio Olympics came to an end Sunday.

ASIAN AMERICAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER ATHLETES wound up winning eight medals for the United States total of 121 medals  during the 17 days of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The Olympics concluded Sunday with a Carnaval-like parade with athletes from all the countries gathering in the middle of the field celebrating the event held every four years.

Swimming

• Nathan Adrian: gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay, Gold in the 4x100 medley relay, bronze medals in the 50m freestyle and the 100m frestyle
• Lia Neal: silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay

Fencing

• Alexander Massialas, silver in foil
• Gerek Meinhardt joined Massialaas to win a bronze medal in team foil

Volleyball

• Micah Christenson, Kawiki Shoji and brother Erick Shoji were part of the team winning a bronze medal

Paige McPherson, a bronze medal winner in taekwondo at the 2012 Games, was upset in the first round but she remains America's strong bet to medal in the future.

Though the badminton and table tennis teams were blanked, the young athletes gained valuable international experience and can only improve by the time the 2020 Olympics in Japan.

Below are all the stories that Views from the Edge presented as part of the Olympic coverage:

OLYMPIC COVERAGE OF AAPI ATHLETES

• Q&A with Nathan Adrian; what's next? 
• Asian/American swimmers win medals
• All Asian/American badminton team  
• Taekwondo fighter hopes to improve on her bronze medal 

• Hawaiian volleyball players destined to excel 
• Six Asian/Americans make up the table tennis team 
• Woman with most medals fails to make Rio swim team
• Asian American fencers go to Rio to make a point
• Fencer makes history by winning a silver medal 
• Weightlifter's crazy dancing brings attention to climate change 

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Olympics: Q&A with Nathan Adrian; what's next after medal performances?

YouTube

Nathan Adrian flashes the gold medal that he earned anchoring the 4x100m medley relay team.

NATHAN ADRIAN, whose killer smile and 6-pack abs are drawing a lot of attention from his growing legion of fans on the Internet, has won the most Olympic medals for an Asian/American athlete in this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Chinese/American swimmer won four medals in Rio, two golds in the 4x100 freestyle relay and the 4x100 medley relay. both of which contributed to Michael Phelps' historic run for gold which now stand at 23. Adrian also won two bronze medals for the freestyle at 50m and 100m.

Back in the San Francisco Bay Area where he makes his home, Adrian told NBC that Saturday’s 4X100m race also meant sharing a special moment with Phelps, who announced his retirement via Facebook Live on Saturday, while also celebrating fellow (Cal Bear Ryan) Murphy's first win. 

“More special being with Ryan, setting that world record, and Michael being his last race, I get to take credit for a small part of that,” he explained.

Here's a quirky factoid: Adrian's time for the final leg of that race was 47 seconds flat; .58 seconds faster than the gold medal time for the 100m in which Adrian won a Bronze. That says a lot about the vagaries of swimming.

That makes eight Olympic medals for Adrian, starting in 2008, when he got his first medal as a member of the 4x100m relay at the age of 15.

So what's next for the 27-year old, who was an honors student majoring in public health at UC Berkeley? His bio says he aspires to become an MD.

RELATED

• Asian/American swimmers win medals
• All Asian/American badminton team 
• Hawaiian volleyball players destined to excel 
• Six Asian/Americans make up the table tennis team 
• Woman with most medals fails to make Rio swim team
• Asian American fencers go to Rio to make a point
• Fencer makes history by winning a silver medal 

If he wants, blessed with good looks and his lean swimmer's body on his 6'6" frame, he could certainly make a living as a model -- and that suits his sponsors Tommy HIllfiger and Speedo just fine. 

Here's a clue: Nathan will be 31 in 2020 when the Games will be in Tokyo - the same age that Michael Phelps is this year.

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Honoring Tim Lincecum's remarkable career; Fil/American pitcher designated for assignment

Tim Lincecum, in his prime, was unhittable which led to winning the Cy Young award for two consecutive years.

By Louis Chan
Reprinted from AsAm News
A PHOTO of two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum’s trade mark fist pump and smile hangs on my wall.

The picture actually had been put away in my closet, but when I heard the charismatic, yet quiet ex-San Francisco Giant had been sent bags packing by the California Angels, I decided to put his picture back up.

Too many memories of better days to let Timmy collect dust.

His bid to comeback to prominence apparently is over after going 2-6 with the Angels during which he give up an average of nine runs a game after not being resigned by the Giants.

You had a feeling something wasn’t right with the Filipino/American pitcher when he kept pushing back his audition this off season. He had been working on his game in private away from view of the public, refusing to let even the scouts see until he threw himself an open audition attending by some 20 teams after the season started.

Its been a steady decline that started in 2011. Sure, there were glimpses of the old Timmy including his second no-hitter against the San Diego Padres in 2014. It was moments like that that gave long time fans hope the Timmy magic had not completely disappeared, but it did. In 2014, the last of the Giants three most recent World Series championships, Lincecum was a non-factor appearing as a reliever for just one inning the entire post season.

I prefer to remember the glory days. He quickly became the team’s name plate after coming up from the minors in 2007. After Barry Bonds left the team, it was Timmy who would bring the Giants back to greatness and lead the team to the first of three World Series titles starting in 2010.

Who could forget, let alone hit, his 97 mile per hour fast ball. Who could forget his back to back Cy Young Awards for being baseball’s best pitcher in 2008 and 2009. Who could forget Timmy playing a key role in the 2012 World Series coming in as a reliever at pivotal points during the post season–doing whatever it would take to bring home another championship.

It’s expected Lincecum will clear waiver. He’ll then have to decide if he wants to continue to work on his games in the minors where the Angels have offered him a spot.

Timmy, your glory days may be gone, but you’ll always have a place up on my wall and in my heart.

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OLYMPICS: Hawaiian athletes were destined to excel in volleyball

USAVolleyball

Volleyball Olympian Micah Christenson serves

HAWAII will be paying close attention to the exploits of the Men's Volleyball Team at the Rio Olympics next week. That state placed three of their own on the team. Micah Makanamaikalani Christenson and the brothers Shoji.

What is it about the island state that produces great volleyball players? It must be all that time running and playing at the beach.

Or ... it could just be good genes. As you read about Micah, Kawiki and Erik, you'll learn that their parents had a strong influence on their sons'  choice of sports.

Micah Christenson

Hawaiian/American

Sport: Volleyball

Position: Setter

Height: 6-6 (198cm)

Weight: 190 (86kg)

DOB: 5/8/1993

Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii

Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii

High School: Kamehameha High School

College: USC '15, human biology with business minor

Personal: Full name is Micah Makanamaikalani Christenson. Makanamaikjalani means "Gift from Heaven." Micah's parents gave him that name because his mother had to have surgery while pregnant with Micah and it was not known if he would survive... Father Robert played basketball at the University of Hawaii-Hilo... Mother Charlene played volleyball at Hilo, where she won three national championships and was named a two-time All-American

Quote: “I just tried to do my job and work as hard as I could. I don't like just coming in and expecting any type of respect from anybody. I think you have to earn it. I tried to keep my head down and work as hard as I could and do the best that I could to earn my teammates' trust and support.” 

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Kawika Shoji

Hawaiian/Japanese/American

Sport: Volleyball

Position: Setter

Height: 6-3 (198cm)

Weight: 194 (88kg)

DOB: 11/11/1987

Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii

Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii

High School: Iolani School (Honolulu, Hawaii)

College: Stanford University ('10, Political Science)

Personal: Parents are Dave and Mary Shoji. Father is University of Hawaii women's volleyball coach and has won four national titles in 34 seasons. He also has the most wins in NCAA DI women’s volleyball history. Mother played basketball at Hawaii... Married wife Megan in 2014... Has a brother, Erik (1989) and a sister Cobey (1979). Erik plays libero for the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team... Also plays golf

Quote: “I think we’ve always had the dream. But I don’t know if I could have told you 10 or 15 years ago that we’d be playing together on the national team.” Kawika Shoji on playing with his brother Erik

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Erik Shoji

Hawaiian/Japanese/American

Sport: Volleyball

Position: Libero

Height: 6-0 (184 cm)

Weight: 160 lbs (75kg)

DOB: 8/4/1989

Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii

Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii

High School: Punahou School '08

College: Stanford University '12

Personal: Parents are Dave and Mary Shoji. Dave has been women's volleyball coach at the University of Hawaii for more than 40 years and is the winningest coach in NCAA DI women's volleyball history. Mary played basketball at the University of Hawaii... Older brother Kawika also played volleyball for Stanford and also plays on the U.S. Men's National Team. The brothers also have an older sister named Cobey... Majored in human biology at Stanford

Quote: “Growing up you never know if you can get this far but it was always my dream. Now that the team has qualified, I need keep working to make the roster. There’s always competition and young guys coming up, so you always have to be ready to work hard. You always have to be prepared because there’s always someone who wants to come and take your job.”

Olympics: Natalie Coughlin's dream of a fourth Games falls short

Twelve-time gold medalist Natalie Coughlin's announcement was low key.

AT SOME POINT, no matter how hard you work to keep i shape, the body eventually wears down. It happens to all athletes. The years catch up to you no matter how strong a competitive spirit you have.

Olympic star and swimmer Natalie Coughlin - at age 33 - has  reached that point.

Filipina/American Coughlin, who was on three Olympic teams, winner of 12 Olympic medals, innumerable national championships announced last Friday that she is withdrawing from the U.S. Olympic trials in Omaha, Nebraska. Her dream of making a fourth Olympic team has come to an end.

After finishing 8th in the 100-meter backstroke and failing to win her heat in the 100-meter freestyle, an event she won just a few months ago leading up to trials, she knew she was done.

“I just didn’t have it for these trials,” Coughlin told Bleacher Report. “I don’t know why. I can’t explain it. I’ve just been off in my swimming for a few months. It’s just ... just heartbreaking. That’s the word. Heartbreaking.”

Before her final event in th 50-meter freestyle, she held a press conference. Dressed in a grey warmup suit with the Cal logo, her hair pulled back, back erect, and her steely blue eyes staring down the reporters, she announced her decision.

But she made it clear that she  was not retiring from swimming.

"I'm not announcing a retirement or anything like that; I'm just not going to the Olympics," said Coughlin. "From there, I don't know. Swimming has been a part of my life since I joined my first club team when I was six years old.

"It will always be a part of my life. I don't really see the point of saying that it's over — because it'll always be there," she told the reporters.

Natalie Coughlin Facebook

Natalie Coughlin won 12 Olympic medals equaling fellow swimmers Dara Torres and Jenny Thomas,
the most won by female Olympians.

 “I can’t wait to get home (Lafayette, California) to my husband and begin to discover a life outside of the pool. I’m not going to be so focused on every ache and pain in my body. I’m going to spend a lot of time in my kitchen, which I absolutely love. I’m a Type A personality with OCD. So I love the prep work in the kitchen and the chopping and all that goes into that. I can’t wait to see my garden.”

Coughlin plans on continuing to swim, train and stay in shape because she can't imagine her life not doing that. She also will cheer on some of her Cal teammates who are going to Rio as she ponders what the next chapter in her life will be like. Coaching, perhaps? or maybe she'll appear on a Food Network show cooking some of her mother's Filipino recipes, or maybe ... there's the 2020 Olympics.

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For more news about Asian/Americans & Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.

Jordan Clarkson signs with Lakers for 4 years, $50 million

Jordan Clarkson is staying with the Lakers for at least four more years.

THE L.A. LAKERS were not going to lose the player that could potentially become a future NBA star. They resigned Afro/Filipino/American Jordan Clarkson today (July 1) to a whopping four-year, $50 million contract -- not bad for a second-year player.


The second-round pick out of Missouri in 2014, Clarkson earned only $845,000 last year.

With Jeremy Lin gone and future Hall-of-Famer Kobe Bryant playing sparingly in his final season, Clarkson was able to bloom and sharpen his basketball skills in his breakout season.

He's shown the versatility to play point guard or shooting guard. Clarkson averaged 15.5 points, four rebounds and 2.4 assists and shot 34.7 percent from three-point range in his second season

RELATED: Filipno/American playing for L.A. Lakers

The 6' 5" Clarkson demonstrated his versatility by handling multiple roles is what made Clarkson an attractive option for teams this summer. "Clarkson is a versatile scorer and combo guard," wrote Matt Moore of CBSSports.com in May. "He can run the offense or create his own shot and is only 24."


After hearing about the hiring of former Golden State Warriors assistant Luke Walton to become the Lakers' head coach, Clarkson could barely contain his excitement.

“That style of play fits me, as well as the other guys. I definitely want to stay here in L.A. and be here. I said in my exit interview, I don’t want to be that guy who bounces around from team to team.

“I want to be here in L.A. -- a place where I can call home -- and leave a legacy. The (Luke Walton) hiring makes it even better.”

Jordan Clarkson attracted Filipino basketball fans wherever he played.

Jeremy Lin returns to New York with a fatter wallet

By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent

Jeremy Lin announced Friday via Twitter that he’s returning to New York where Linsanity all began.

Lin won’t be returning to the New York Knicks. He’ll be signing a three year deal with the Brooklyn Nets worth $36 million

That’s a huge boost over what he made with the Charlotte Hornets, which was estimated to be two year, $4 million. Lin opted out of his last year for free agency which officially got underway Thursday.

RELATED: How Big of a Pay cut is Jeremy Lin taking?

It’ll be great to see Lin back in the spotlight of New York. While not as big as the one on the Knicks, expect the sale of Lin jerseys to take off as media coverage of him will indeed intensify.

RELATED: Jeremy Lin opens up about race

That seemed to be Stephon Marbury’s takeaway from the Jeremy Lin signing, with the ex-Nets and Knicks guard tweeting that “The NBA used my man to attract the Asian Market. I don’t think the money is about basketball.”

Lin agreed to a three-year, $36 million deal with the Nets — a big contract but certainly not a crazy one, like the $64 million Timofey Mozgov got from the Lakers or the $120 million Nic Batum is getting — and one of Marbury’s followers suggested the Brooklyn’s money would’ve been better spent on the Coney Island product, leading Marbury to chime in.

RELATED: What's up with Jeremy Lin's hair?

Charlotte is only the latest in a long list of cities and teams that Lin has called home in his six seasons with the NBA. Before the Hornets, he played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, and Golden State Warriors.

RELATED: Fit in or be true to yourself?

In an April interview with the Charlotte Observer, Lin, who is the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, expressed a "wistfulness" for California, where he was born and raised. "Sometimes I miss being able to get Asian food, or Asian dessert, or stuff like that. I miss seeing Asian people," Lin said. "But we travel enough, and I get to see my friends a lot. It's all good."

When Lin returns to New York, he will also be reunited with current Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, who was the assistant coach for the Kicks during his 2011-2012 run. He will likely be in the starting lineup with the Nets after being the good soldier and coming off the bench with Charlotte.

“I’ve played six years in the NBA; I’ve played on five different teams. I’ve played for two D-League teams — so seven cities in six years,” Lin said during a recent interview with the World Economic Forum. “I’m tired of boxes, I’m tired of moving companies, and I want to find a home.”

With $12 million a year, he can afford a pretty good home, even at New York City prices.
(Views From the Edge contributed to this report.)

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Tim Lincecum: Face of the Giants is now an Angel

Tim Lincecum in an Angels uniform will take some getting used to.

IT JUST doesn't look right. Pitcher Tim Lincecum in a baseball uniform other than the orange-and-black of the San Francisco Giants.

Much to the disappointment of his many fans in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Filipino-American hurler has agreed to a deal to play for the Anaheim Angels.

He apparently has recovered from his hip surgery. The weak hip has hampered his effectiveness on the mound the last four years. 

RELATED: Has Lincecum pitched for the last time?

While there's no certainty that Lincecum can come close to being the player he once was when he won two consecutive Cy Young Awards, Eppler wanted to take the chance.

"With guys that have shown the ability to be that star-level talent, when you have an opportunity to bring that in and there's something to reclaim there," said Angels general manager Billy Eppler. "Is he going to be the version of himself from six or seven years ago? I don't know."

Lincecum on Friday (May 20) signed a one-year free-agent $2.5 million deal with the Angels laden with incentives including  $1,175,000 in performance bonuses and $500,000 in roster bonuses, according to the Associated Press. He would receive $25,000 for making 11 starts, $50,000 for 13, $100,000 for 15, $200,000 for 17 and $400,000 each for 19 and 21 starts.

In addition, he would receive $125,000 each for four, 30, 60 and 90 days on the active roster, excluding disabled list days spent due to a right hip injury.

The 31-yeard old right-hander had spent his entire career in San Francisco, going 108-83 with a 3.61 ERA. He made history in 2009, becoming just one of four pitchers to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards. He was also a part of three World Series-winning teams with the Giants (2010, 2012, 2014), going 5-2 with a 2.40 ERA in the postseason.

RELATED: Lincecum interviews Bruce Lee

The Giants made an offer to their long-time pitcher but they offered a role in the bullpen. The Angels will let him compete for a starter's slot and that was what apparently clinched the deal.

He was a fan favorite and because of his small stature, he was nicknamed "The Freak" and with his long hair, slight frame and laid back manager, he lived up to the monicker. One other thing he did: Because of his presence, the Giants discovered the Filipino/American market known in the Bay Area.  They were the first sports franchise to hold Filipino Heritage Night's a couple of times a year. They were usually timed whenever it was Timmy's turn to start.

RELATED: The Golden State Warriors' Asian connection

NOTE TO ASIAN ANGEL FANS: Timmy's a good guy and acknowledges his hapa heritage. Maybe he'll bring in a lot of Asian fans from Carson, Torrance and the San Gabriel Valley. If he doesn't work out, the Giants will take him back. 

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For more news about Asian/Americans and Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.