Major League Baseball

Tim Kawakami: Tim Lincecum vs. Roy Halladay is like a heavyweight fight

Published Oct. 16, 2010 10:56 a.m. ET

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PHILADELPHIA--The ring introductions are over, the hype is still echoing throughout the stadium, and here comes the momentous main event.

Tim Lincecum vs. Roy Halladay, a battle of the aces, for the ages. Are you ready for this?

Oh sure, as a coincidental sidelight, the Giants and Philadelphia Phillies are starting the National League Championship Series here tonight.

But the fiercest focus is on the two starting pitchers -- the Giants' Lincecum and the Phillies' Halladay -- who both have accomplished so much and pitched so superlatively in the first round of the playoffs.

And both carry an immense amount of responsibility for the success of their teams, in this or any series, and in this or any game.

This, of course, is the largest one of their lives, which has created all the fanfare.

"You've got a guy that's thrown a perfect game and a no-hitter in the playoffs," Giants closer Brian Wilson said of Halladay.

"And then you've got a pitcher that's had two Cy Youngs. Of course it's going to be at the stage it is now. It's heightened. It's going to be one of the best matchups baseball has seen this year.

"This is what America wants to see, and it's what they're going to get."

This is why America is so eager: On Oct. 6, in Game 1 of the Phillies' NL Division Series series against Cincinnati, Halladay threw the second no-hitter in postseason history.

One day later, in Game 1 of the Giants' NLDS series against Atlanta, Lincecum pitched a two-hitter with 14 strikeouts, a franchise record in the postseason. It was the first postseason start ever for Halladay, 33, or Lincecum, 26.

To add to today's drama, some statistical mavens -- pointing to all the strikeouts -- argued that Lincecum outperformed Halladay, who struck out eight.

Asked Friday what he thought about that, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said: "I think it doesn't make any sense at all. What time is the game tomorrow? I think that's when we'll find out "...

"No-hitter is better than a two-hitter, I guess."

More Halladay credentials: He also threw a perfect game on May 29 this season against Florida, has won 169 regular season games in his career, and won the 2003 American League Cy Young Award when he was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Lincecum is the reigning two-time National League Cy Young winner.

Friday, in keeping with their general day-before-game dispositions, Halladay met the media with a sunny smile and embraced the Lincecum matchup, while Lincecum was tight-lipped and a little tense.

Even if everybody else was playing up the meeting, Lincecum was staying far, far away from it.

"I get to face Halladay, what, once every nine at-bats?" Lincecum said with a bit of a frown. "It's not so much him we're worried about -- obviously, our hitters are.

"But I'm worried more about pitch execution to the guys like (Ryan) Howard and (Chase) Utley."

There's a huge discrepancy in a lot of things about these two guys: Halladay is 6-foot-6, and Lincecum is 5-11; Halladay is determined to induce ground balls and frustrate hitters, and Lincecum is focused on throwing balls past hitters.

Halladay also has a tremendous lineup that is expected to support him with a lot of runs. Lincecum has the Giants, who torture their fans and pitchers with offense by the drip-drop.

Clearly, it's a gigantic moment for both pitchers and has been circled on the sports calendar since Monday, when the Giants clinched the NLDS and guaranteed a spot against the Phillies.

So how is Lincecum going to handle this long build up and the gathering immensity?

"We're going to find out, huh?" Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti said Friday. "It's part of the landscape these days. ...

"It's going to be great for him either way. I think either way it's going to be an experience he's going to carry the rest of his career."

Righetti agreed that this hearkens back to some of the great ace-vs.-ace meetings over the years -- Roger Clemens vs. Pedro Martinez in 1999; Jack Morris vs. John Smoltz in 1991.

But players on both teams, while acknowledging the magnitude of this matchup, also said they realize that it's just one game in a best-of-seven series.

"A win's a win, it doesn't matter who's out there, their ace, our ace," Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino said. "To get a win in Game 1 is very important. I think it sets the tone for the series.

"But it's a long series. You just try to score as many runs as you can. "... And these guys are going to go again at some point in this series."

A rematch? Yes, these two will probably meet again, in Game 5, if the series lasts that long.

And if Lincecum and Halladay meet the expectations today, we'll all be counting down to the next one, too.

Read Tim Kawakami's Talking Points blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami . Contact him at tkawakami@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5442.

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