(Photo by Jeff Chiu – Pool/Getty Images)
Brandon Crawford is putting a lot of Giants fans in a very tough position.
The San Francisco shortstop, a lifelong Giants fan himself, started a bracket on Twitter where fans can vote on their favorite Giants players of all time. The quarterfinal round was an absolute doozy, pitting Buster Posey vs. J.T. Snow, Barry Bonds vs. Matt Cain, Will Clark vs. Pablo Sandoval and Madison Bumgarner vs. Tim Lincecum.
That last one is particularly difficult, forcing fans to choose between two of the most beloved and accomplished pitchers of the Giants’ World Series runs.
Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow has been voting in the poll, and was asked by Brian Murphy on KNBR Wednesday which pitcher got his vote. Eventually, Kruk revealed.
“You can’t do it, it’s impossible,” Kruk said of who to vote for. “I’ve been voting in this thing and it’s tough. Now I’m going to go with Posey over Snow, Lincecum over Bum, and I’ll tell you why. I felt the same way about Lincecum that I felt about Will Clark in the 80s. Will Clark gave us the swagger, and this is after the team lost 100 games in 1985. Will Clark came aboard and it was just a different deal.
“That swagger is exactly what Lincecum brought to the Giants. And he was such an unbelievable story and he backed it up. He was amazing and even better than that is how he was in the clubhouse. He just was a great teammate and that’s all he ever wanted to be. So I went with him.”
Lincecum’s prime was short lived, but the right-hander was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball during a four-year stretch from 2008-2011, winning consecutive Cy Young’s and making four consecutive All-Star appearances. Lincecum also posted a 2.40 ERA in seven postseason appearances.
Bumgarner’s career with the Giants was arguably more consistant, and featured the greatest high, with his five-inning save to close out the 2014 World Series. Currently Lincecum has 51 percent of the 7,000 plus votes with seven hours of voting remaining.