Pot found in Lincecum Ride

TN TITAN Fan In STL · #1 11-05-2009, 06:59 PM

Tim Lincecum, star pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, is facing charges of misdemeanor possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia use after being stopped for speeding on I-5 last week.

At 8:23 a.m. Oct. 30, Washington State Patrol trooper and spokesman Steve Schatzel said, a motorcycle trooper working with a laser device timed a 2006 Mercedes Benz doing 74 mph northbound in Hazel Dell near Northeast 78th Street — where the speed limit is 60 mph.

The trooper pulled the Mercedes over. When the driver, Lincecum, rolled down his window, the trooper smelled marijuana. He asked Lincecum to hand it over, and Lincecum reached into his dashboard console and produced a small pouch and a pipe, Schatzel said.

The amount was 3.3 grams, Schatzel said, which is considered only enough for personal use. Lincecum did not appear to be impaired behind the wheel and is not being charged with a felony crime, Schatzel said.

"Not unless there's something else going on," Schatzel said. "With this amount of marijuana, that's normally the way we deal with it."

He said 3.3 grams is about the size of a human thumb.

Lincecum "was cited and released," Schatzel said. The speeding citation was for $122. He is expected to be arraigned on Nov. 23 in Clark County District Court.

Schatzel said the motorcycle officer was joined by another officer in a marked patrol car; one didn't know who Lincecum was but the other recognized the name of the 2008 National League Cy Young Award winner.

He said the troopers didn't do anything that wasn't routine.

Lincecum, 25, is a native of Bellevue. He attended Liberty High School in Renton, where was the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Washington. He later starred for the University of Washington, winning in the Golden Spikes award in 2006 as the nation's top amateur baseball player.

He was selected as the 10th overall player in the 2006 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants. He won the 2008 National League Cy Young Award after going 18-5 with a 2.62 earned-run average and 265 strikeouts.

He is again among the leading contenders for the 2009 Cy Young Award after going 15-7 with a 2.47 ERA and 261 strikeouts. He was the starting pitcher for the National League in the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis. Last month, he was selected the National League pitcher of the year by The Sporting News for a second consecutive season.

Lincecum signed for a $2.025 million signing bonus with the Giants in 2006. He is arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason, and he is expected to earn a pay raise to more than $10 million for 2010.DEADSPIN