Anticipation

Never mind silly things like home run record chases, there’s nothing in baseball quite like the anticipation of seeing a much-heralded prospect make his major league debut. On Sunday Tim Lincecum is scheduled to start for the Giants in their game at home against the Phillies, taking the place of Russ Ortiz who has been put on the disabled list. Lincecum was their first-round draft pick in 2006 and so far this season he has been mowing down batters at Triple-A level, allowing just one run in 31 innings pitched, for an ERA of 0.29. How well will he adjust to the big leagues? Will he get fazed on Sunday by the likes of Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins??