MLB 2K9 Cover Goes to Tim Lincecum
by 
Only hours after posting up the top candidates for the baseball game covers 2K Sports revealed their selection and cover art. It is Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants. With an 18-5 record and 2.62 ERA he was dominant on a poor team. He was selected to the All-Star team and was likely to be the starter but missed the game due to an illness. Earlier today he was announced as the NL Cy Young Award winner.
I left Lincecum out of my preview thinking he wasn’t recognizable enough, especially as a starting pitcher as the companies tend to go for offensive players. Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels seemed the most likely starters if one was to be taken. But Linecum’s numbers certainly justify his choosing. The one thing not factored in that probably should’ve been is that he plays nearby the 2K offices. Visual Concepts, which is now developing the series, is based just outside San Francisco.
Given that Lincecum grew up in my area and went to Washington I like the selection even though it is somewhat of a surprise. Needless to say it is refreshing to have 2K move away from New York teams. What are your thoughts on Lincecum’s selection?
November 11, 2008 at 12:04 pm
shouda bin BONDZ
if ur not 1st ur LAST
November 11, 2008 at 12:09 pm
He also just was announced as the Cy Young Award Winner! Get that in your article!
November 11, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I know PP is suppoed to break in the latest sports-gaming news, but really, who cares, MLB sux & The Show rocks! Pasta, if you know any Sony reps, tell them to put a HR derby back into The Show series! Everything else is pretty darn good…
November 11, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Much better than Jose Reyes. The picture is a little awkward though.
November 11, 2008 at 12:38 pm
The cover is not the problem…They really need to step it up after last years DEBACLE of a game…Maybe the worst game I’ve ever seen since the final days of the EA TRIPLE PLay series
November 11, 2008 at 12:39 pm
POOR CHOICE POOR TEAM
2K SUCKS NEWAYS
PS3 BASEBALL FTW
November 11, 2008 at 12:42 pm
i like the player….but the giants come on
November 11, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Different developer this year. VC is taking over the game.
November 11, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I agree, Afroman.
Put Charlie Brown on the cover for all I care. Fix the game.
November 11, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Damn, like I said in the other post, I thought Lincecum would be a great choice for MLB 09 The Show but hes now obviously on MLB 2k9. Lincecum is so dirty.
Not that they will change my mind about what game to choose. I am pretty sure that I will be getting The Show. Now that 2k took Lincecum (great choice by the way) I think the Show should take another youngster, Longoria or Braun.
November 11, 2008 at 2:01 pm
The Show should go with Evan Longoria. Just because he’s awesome…. that’s it.
November 11, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I really wanna be able to buy a baseball game this year, hopefully 2k can do something
November 11, 2008 at 2:54 pm
WTF
IT DOSEN’T MAKE ANY SENSE
November 11, 2008 at 2:57 pm
He deserves it, but it shoulda been Albert.
November 11, 2008 at 3:45 pm
this is Lincecum’s 2nd year, and he lead the bigs in k’s! and, he won about 80% of the giants games! thats how you lead the team! that deserves the cover, plus, you might get ho you want for the 09 the show cover.
November 11, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Well…if VC is doing the game hopefully they can get this game on track…2007 wasn’t too bad other than the HR issues…2008 was a train wreck…The most disappointing thing about last year was I was really hopeful for the game with Ben Brinkman (former MVP series producer) on the game.
Never in a million years would I of thought they would destroy the game and any memory of the MVP series in one year. 2k needs to start from scratch…from art work, graphics to animations and gameplay…thee game is in need of serious re-tooling.
My fingers are crossed though because I’d like to see 2k do well…The Show needs some competition
November 11, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I say EA and 2k switch licenses.
2k gets the football license
and
EA gets the baseball LIcense
MVP baseball 2005 is still the best Baseball sim ever
and NFL 2k5 is still the best football game ever.
November 11, 2008 at 4:06 pm
It will be hard for me to support 2k baseball after the mess of last year, but I will certainly see how it goes. Like Pasta said, nice to see a local guy do well, although it hurts he’s not in a Mariners uniform. They deemed him too small and that his delivery would lead to arm trouble.
November 11, 2008 at 5:50 pm
like i said b4- 2k7 was on the right track, 2k8 was horrid, i was sooo exctied to get 2k8 and glad when it wasnt available that day and got the show and heard about 2k8, saved me 60 bucks, but im really hoping they make it a hard decision, but without progressive lighting and shadowing and realistic attendance, it will fall short. BREW CREW IN 09
November 11, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Horrible choice both for the Cy Young, and the cover. Johan Santana should’ve won the Cy, and somebody, I mean anybody else should have got the cover.
November 11, 2008 at 6:31 pm
This was a great choice. Tim Lincecum was under rated before and he prove that if u work hard, things will happen. I hope that mlb 2K9 is going to be sick. Visual Concept is a very good company that can set the bar in creating a game that was never seen before that will blow us away. So Visual Concept do your THING!!! I be supporting……..
November 11, 2008 at 7:01 pm
@ ejnfl24:
And somebody is a little biased, huh?
November 11, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I like Lincecum as the cover-athlete….It gets away from the mainstream thinking of derek jeter or jose reyes…..maybe this is 2K’s way of saying they are back on the map, just like Lincecum is trying to do for the Giants….
November 11, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Lincecum is the NL Cy Young Winner for crying out loud. Of course it’s a good choice to have him as a cover athlete. Great job 2K. Now improve the damn Wii version, and we will be in business.
November 11, 2008 at 7:54 pm
idk if the people who have input on the game ever read these sights but i think they should cuz its the people that play the game on here. little things to me make the game, the fact that in 5 years ive yet to see a game get miller park accurate and the fact that sometimes the roof is closed and sometimes its open and sometimes the back panels are closed and other days its not, it cant be that hard to get that right ya know? And i also miss from mvp’s days the game impact level, level 10 means packed house and rocking crowd, level 5, house might not be full and crowd might not be as loud, thats huge realism to me, i cant be the only one who likes that kind of stuff
November 11, 2008 at 8:00 pm
@ Badgerboy 21:
Yeah, and Bob Uecker should be an announcer for 2K9……
November 11, 2008 at 8:02 pm
@ Mark:
yea if you want dead air most of the game ha
November 11, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Oh yeah. Bellevue Washington. represent!!!
November 11, 2008 at 8:42 pm
@ Badgerboy 21:
@ Mark:
Uecker was pretty good in Major League…..
November 11, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Lincecum… possibly the best UW Husky pitcher ever… and now on the cover of a video game! I remember watching him pitch in college. This is awesome.
Go Huskies!
November 11, 2008 at 11:20 pm
they should stop making this game
November 12, 2008 at 1:42 am
@ adam:
and make MVP baseball 2009?
November 12, 2008 at 9:33 am
Strange choice. If they wanted a Pitcher on the cover, would’nt it have made more sense last year? They changed the pitching mechanic and hyped it up pretty much, so they should’ve done the Pitcher last year, like CC. Tim is a great pitcher and deserved they CY Young. Even thou I am from NY and thought Johan was great, he didnt deserve it. But who cares about 2K??? It was no contest last year, The SHow was MVP from da jump and 09 will be the same!!! Great site Pasta, but can we please get some info on Da Show.
November 12, 2008 at 9:48 am
I think the choice is kind of ironic and a clear reflection of the MLB 2k Series. Lincicomb is a Cy Young Ace that managed to Flourish in the Cespool call the San Francisco Giants and as of Late the Great 2k sports name has entered in the cespool of MLB 2k8.
November 12, 2008 at 2:00 pm
As long as the game still sucks, I couldn’t care less who is on the cover. Seeing that a new developer is taking over with the shortened development cycle of a yearly sports title, I would assume 2K will still suck terribly, but might show promise.
It is simply too difficult for a new developer to take over a yearly sports franchise and do a great job on their first release.
November 12, 2008 at 2:16 pm
@ Diablo:
I hope so, but I wasn’t anticipating any baseball news to come out until December. 2K made this announcement mainly just cause their guy was winning the Cy Young. The good news is that SCEA is looking to be more open with The Show this year which means I may get an opportunity to head to the studio and check it out in advance. Haven’t been able to get any early looks at baseball games before.
@ Eric:
If NHL 2K9 is any indication (had the same studio change circumstances) we can probably look forward to a simplified, better playing game that just won’t be up to the level of the competition, but would appear to be headed in the right direction.
November 12, 2008 at 4:18 pm
They should put Barbaro Garbey on the cover. Never heard of him? Yeah, he pretended to be a major leaguer just as this game pretends to represent the MLB….
November 12, 2008 at 7:13 pm
This is the game i’m getting just because he is on the cover. He’s my favorite player ever since he started playing for the san francisco giants. I don’t care if i get the wrong game system for it i’m still getting the game. I’m an 11 year old kid too!!!
November 12, 2008 at 8:17 pm
lol lincicomb
November 19, 2008 at 8:55 pm
No love for my boy Dustin Pedroia
April 14, 2009 at 2:13 am
Ok, ok so I pick up this game and WOW Lincecum why did you get involved with this game, This game is the worse game ever. Who the hell tested this game before releasing it? All 2K progeammers should get axed. Never again will I buy a shitty product by a shitty company that decides to sell an underdeveloped game like this. WOW I am amazed how terrible this game is. Why can't we have MVP Baseball back; that was a great game. SOmeone should do a story on how this game sucks and how buying this game is ripping off people. That could be a great story; just a suggestion. Once again, terrible game, do not make the same mistake I made, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME!!!!