On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick joins Locked On Diamondbacks host Millard Thomas to discuss all things San Francisco Giants Hall of Fame. With Barry Bonds falling off the ballot recently, Ben and Millard discuss the writers keeping him out of Cooperstown, and if it makes sense. They talk about David Ortiz getting in on the first ballot despite him reportedly testing positive for a PED in 2003. The process doesn't appear to be fair at all, and Ben's opinion is that we don't know who was using and who wasn't, so the writers really shouldn't pick and choose based on suspected PED use.
Ben and Millard also talk about the careers of Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. Lincecum, of course, burst onto the scene in the late 2000s and quickly became the best pitcher in the game. He won back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2008 and 2009, and he looked to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory. But then his career went sideways in a hurry. Ben explains to Millard that Lincecum quickly and consistently lost velocity on his fastball due to hip issues, and once the velocity was diminished everything fell apart.
Similarly, Matt Cain was a solidly above-average pitcher for many years for the Giants, yet he abruptly fell off a cliff around the same time as Lincecum. Ben adds that Cain also dealt with numerous injuries and diminished velocity during his decline. Finally, the two talk about the Hall of Fame candidacies of Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey, both of whom probably have a better shot than Lincecum or Cain. Ben believes Bumgarner is probably not a Hall of Famer, but that Posey will be the one player to get in for the Giants this century, despite having so much individual and team success since 2000.
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