MLB: ‘The Count’ impressed by Lincecum

So Russo has gotten through to Benigno.

“Over the years, there are very few pitchers that have the magic to sell tickets,” Gallagher said recently. “It goes beyond people interested in baseball. It becomes a phenomenon. That’s what Tim Lincecum is; that’s what John Montefusco was; that’s what Fernando Valenzuela was.”

The average paid crowd for Lincecum’s nine home starts, 35,356, actually trails the Giants’ per-game average of 35,539 entering Friday. But anybody who has attended one of Lincecum’s outings knows that fans react to virtually each pitch he throws. And the Giants have seen fit to offer ticket discounts to each of Lincecum’s scheduled home starts based on the number of strikeouts he and his relievers accumulate in his preceding outing. The tally will resume Saturday when Lincecum and the Giants oppose the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Montefusco would have loved that sort of promotion.

“I just wanted to put on a good show for the fans,” he said. “I knew more people were coming out to see me pitch and I didn’t want to disappoint them. I went out there and tried to strike everybody out for the fans. I did everything for them. We weren’t drawing much. I was trying to promote the Giants.”