"When Tim Lincecum talked about age catching up with him, almost everyone else in the room had to stifle a laugh. He won't turn 28 until June, and he'd still need ID to get a drink in any bar tended by a non-baseball fan.

Lincecum wore a gray sweatshirt with its hood pulled over a baseball cap, a fashion typically favored by teens who feel like hiding from the world. But surrounded by media the day before the Giants' FanFest last weekend, he seemed more at ease than he has in a while.

A year ago, Lincecum seemed self-conscious, all too aware that he lived in a gilded fish bowl. In his first four major-league seasons, he won two Cy Young Awards and a World Series. How could he top that? He couldn't, especially not after a collision knocked his catcher out for most of the year."