Tim Lincecum was cited by the state police in Washington for possession of marijuana this week. The pot was found in his car after he was pulled over for speeding near the Oregon border on Oct. 30. It was a small amount, and the police determined that Lincecum was not intoxicated while driving, so he's been cited for misdemeanor possession. After his hearing on Nov. 23, that will likely be the last we hear of this particular incident. Andrew Baggarly, the San Jose Mercury writer who wrote the blog entry linked above, guesses that this incident won't be much more than an embarrassment for Lincecum and that it's unlikely to affect his potential arbitration hearing early next year. He's probably right that it'd be wrong for the Giants to accuse their superstar pitcher of being a dirty hippie for having a few grams of pot in his car, but that's a funny mental image I'm stuck with and now I hope you are, too.
Lincecum was probably pretty high on most people's list of MLB players that could potentially get caught with a little bit of pot, but there will probably be some Giants fans disappointed by this news (then again, maybe not, they are mostly from San Francisco) nonetheless. Still, Lincecum wasn't high while he was driving, he wasn't excessively speeding, and if he'd just get a haircut this entire incident probably could have been avoided entirely.
Of course, marijuana is illegal and so that disappointment isn't necessarily unjustified, but he owned up to it and there are really much, much worse ways he could be spending his offseason.

















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
11-05-2009 @ 11:37PM
claytor said...
Hahaha, im digging it. This kid is greatness :)
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11-06-2009 @ 9:23AM
oscariga said...
Do they automatically search peoples' cars when they get stopped for traffic violations in some areas? I got a ticket the other day, and didn't even get out of the vehicle. What prompted these cops to roust this guy?
11-06-2009 @ 10:42AM
OU812? said...
Another multi-million dollar thug busted for drugs and he's not even black??? WOW whats this world coming to? The law is still the law isn't it? Sounds like the ole' double standards at work here..Lets see how MLB handles this one. Im sure they have rules and guidelines for players regardless of ethenic backround..Fine & suspension from the league should be in order....Roll another one, Just like the other one...Toke up.
11-06-2009 @ 10:41AM
dunkallday said...
dirty hippie? DIRTY HIPPIE? Are you kidding me? Pat Lackey, to write such an imbecilic comment in your column illustrates why a half-wit such as yourself is relegated to blogdom and destined to never write for an influential media outlet. You were the non-athletic doofus in school who never went to parties, never smoked pot, and always got tucked in bed at 8 p.m. by Mommy. Oh I see, because Lincecum has long hair, he's a hippie and probably never shampoos. Maybe you were trying to be funny, but I doubt it - humor isn't your strong point.
11-06-2009 @ 11:34AM
knute9 said...
The War on Marijuana has be going on now for 70 years. More people have smoked marijuana today, by percentage, than in 1937. Presently the usage of marijuana is about the same as cigarettes among teenagers. Is that called success? The only thing wasted is tax money. We are paying far more taxes today because the prohibition of marijuana. 70 years of wasted money on enforcement, judicial, and prison systems. A failure from start to finish, we've spent a lot of money going backwards. Also we lost all the tax monies by not taxing it. Talk about waste in government. The tax monies would be better spent on education and PR campaigns. It is well known that Al Capone was a big supporter of the prohibition of alcohol. Why? There's a lot more profit to made in the untaxed market. There's so much profit that Capone bribed numerous politicians and law enforcement officials. The strategy right now is to unsure that marijuana is not taxed or sales regulated. Presently the drug cartels are controlling the production and sale of marijuana, not our government. Do you think a drug dealer going to ask a kid for ID? There is a drug war happening south of the border which is undermining the Mexican government. Half the revenue of the drug cartels come from the production and sale of marijuana. By legalizing marijuana would effectively remove 50 percent of the cartels monies. And any business, legal or illegal, who loses half their revenue faces a great chance of complete collapse. Let us not forget that the hemp plant (marijuana) has many viable commercial and industrial uses (energy, material, medical, etc). Did you know that our founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp, and that the Declaration of Independence is written on hemp paper? Finally, the last three Presidents of the United States of America have smoked marijuana at one time. It's now the time to end the prohibition of marijuana.
11-06-2009 @ 2:27PM
jmw1431 said...
What a stupid waste of time and resources. Talk about a waste of tax dollars.
11-06-2009 @ 5:15PM
haledav said...
OMG! When are they going to legalize the stuff and stop with this god awful baloney? Newsflash: PEOPLE SMOKE POT! THEY ARE NOT GOING TO STOP BECAUSE OF SOME ARBITRARY LAW! IT IS NO DIFFERENT THAN DRINKING OR SMOKING CIGARETTES OR DRINKING COFFEE! And for the record, I don't smoke pot because it doesn't appeal to me, NOT because there is a stupid and incipid law against it!It also means I don't judge others and neither should anyone else! The "war on drugs" is inherently stupid and is a huge waste of dollars that could be much better spent feeding hungry children.
11-06-2009 @ 1:00AM
joaquinportillo said...
I'm pretty much fine with it. Hopefully he doesn't get suspended by the league and he's not high and driving.
Also, Baggs writes for the San Jose Mercury, not the Chronicle. Henry Schulman is the Giants' beat guy for the Chron.
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11-06-2009 @ 8:29AM
jsd1011 said...
Suspend him. What kind of message are we sending to kids. That it's OK to use drugs. No matter how minor the drug may seen to be IT IS ILLEGAL.
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11-06-2009 @ 8:58AM
Jim said...
jsd1011: Man, you have GOT to be joking! Suspend this kid over a little pot? It sure as hell isn't as if the kid had been snorting coke or doing crack, meth or some other REAL drug! AND to top it off, he was straight when he was caught. Dude, lots of people smoke pot. A LOT more than your little mind may realize. There may be several people in your own family that do, and you would likely never know it. I say let it go. A charge over a small amount of weed is no big deal at all.
11-06-2009 @ 9:33AM
Danny said...
What about alcohol it's legal and it's more dangorous than marijuana.
11-06-2009 @ 9:33AM
Oscariga said...
How about this? Quit using professional athletes to "send messages" to your kids. If you haven't figured it out yet, athletes aren't in ant way superior to the rest of us except for their skill at the game they play. They aren't any smarter or moral than anyone else, so we don't need to be listening to them or any other celebrities for moral, social cultural or political opinion. Their opinions aren't any better than anyone else's, and their views are often ludricous because their level of existence is so far removed from the lifestyles of ordinary people.
11-06-2009 @ 9:36AM
*-* Brittany *-* said...
ok deff need to relax when obama plans to make cronic legal .. so in 5 yrs u and ur whole fqmily will be smoking ... TOGETHER ... THE GROWS OUT THE GRASS ITS FREGGIN BUSH LOL .... ALL IT DOES IS MAKE U GET THE MUNCHIESS ... AND THE MESSAGE TO KIDS if ur trying to smoke a little its not gonna kill u ur not gona light ur car on fire .. kill some 1 like that retarded comerical it a great little treat after a hard days work
11-06-2009 @ 9:53AM
markhands said...
Since when it is wrong to use drugs if you are a star athlete. (LOL) This is nothing conpared to years of Steriod or HGH usage and ARod is hailed as a hero. Something is definately wrong with this picture.
11-06-2009 @ 2:12PM
john said...
Another bizarre mentality heard from. A columnist in USA Today (aa well as NOW)wants the Raiders' coach suspended 'cause he hit his wife 20 years ago. Half the population is for banning any permanently legal way gays and lesbians can live together. Idiot parents are marching against innoculations and school (who can't educate) are suspending 6 year olds, and proposing to send them to reform school for bringing a camping utensil to school. PETA complains that an aquarium serves fish sandwiches in its snack shop (do they realize that the fish eat fish?) and after being attacked from Afghanistan the US attacks Iraq, puts the war against alQaida on the back burner, wasting 4,000 American lives (untold Iraqi lives) and severely injuring 25,000 American troops, and opponents of any health insurance changes see 'death panels', rationed health care (what do you think your health insurer does now), and "socialized medicine" as the big bugaboos. And we still haven't found Osama bin Laden (I guess we thought he was hiding in a tunnel under one of Sadaam's palaces - they're both Moslems after all) or learned it's not 'Eye-rak' but 'err-ahk'[stress on the second syllable]. And let's suspend a not DUI-ed guy for having some dried weeds that even George Washington grew. (Yeah, THAT GW).
When do the adults get back to run this place? I've been waiting 70 years.
11-06-2009 @ 2:29PM
joshualogsdon said...
Marijuana is not a drug. Also I'm about damn tired of the right wing and "concerned parents" of this country trying to turn it into Prude City. Get off your ass and do some parenting.
11-06-2009 @ 3:10PM
tomp7152 said...
thats the whole problem (that it is illegal). There are people out there who know nothing about it but condemn all who use it for the simple stigma that is attached to something that is so called illegal. If alcohol were illegal as it were in prohibition would you want to send everyone who drinks to jail?
11-06-2009 @ 8:36AM
Damien said...
Who cares? He's the best pitcher over his past 2 seasons(even over guys like Halladay, Sabathia, Lee, Verlander, etc...)
Weed isn't the best drug to be using if you're a baseball player, but it should be legal. I'd rather he get busted for amphetamines or something that enhances performance not considered steroids.
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11-06-2009 @ 8:38AM
MADBOY said...
SOOOOO! I THINK ITS GREAT BRECKENRIDGE IS A TRULY FREE PLACE! NOW HOW BOUT THE REST OF THE COUNTRY!
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11-06-2009 @ 8:38AM
JD said...
lolol...what kind of message are we sending to kids????? really??? if your kids look up to a baseball player or any professional athlete and use them as a role model rather than yourself then...well that's fail. if kids need a professional athlete to tell them that drugs are bad rather than the parent...again, fail. admiring and enjoying a complete stranger play a sport is one thing, to be one's roll model...c'mon now.
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