Michael August Timlin (/ˈtɪmlɪn/; born March 10, 1966) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher.
Timlin graduated from Midland High School; he attended and pitched at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta.
[citation needed] His sliders and sinkers had a downward break, inducing a significant number of ground balls.
He made his first major league appearance on opening day, April 8, pitching 1+1⁄3 innings in relief against the Boston Red Sox.
[2] Two days later, he recorded his first strikeout (Tom Brunansky) and had his first win, after pitching an inning in relief against the Red Sox.
[3] For the regular season, Timlin appeared in 63 games, all but three in relief, compiling a record of 11–6 with three saves and a 3.16 earned run average (ERA).
In the postseason, he made four relief appearances in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) against the Minnesota Twins, including taking the loss in Game 3 after giving up a home run to Mike Pagliarulo in the 10th inning.
He recorded his first postseason save in the deciding Game 6, facing a single batter, Otis Nixon, who Timlin threw out at first base on a bunt attempt in the 11th inning, for the final out of the series.
Timlin and Paul Spoljaric were traded to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for José Cruz Jr. on July 31, 1997.
In his two seasons with Seattle, he appeared in a total of 96 games with 20 saves, while striking out 69 and walking 21 in 105 innings pitched, with a 3.17 ERA.
On July 29, 2000, Timlin was traded (along with cash) to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Chris Richard and minor league player Mark Nussbeck.
[13] In two seasons with Baltimore, Timlin appeared in a total of 99 games, compiling a record of 5–12, with 38 saves and a 4.04 ERA, while striking out 76 and walking 38 in 98 innings pitched.
Timlin made his first appearance with the Cardinals (and in the National League) on July 30, 2000, pitching one inning in relief against the New York Mets.
On April 19, he made his first start since his rookie season, taking the loss against the Milwaukee Brewers; he pitched 4+1⁄3 innings, giving up four runs (all earned) while striking out three batters and walking one.
[18] On July 29, 2002, Timlin, Plácido Polanco, and Bud Smith were traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Doug Nickle, Scott Rolen, and cash.
Timlin made his first appearance with the Phillies on July 31, 2002, pitching two innings in relief (and getting the win) against the San Francisco Giants.
[23] After his first three seasons with the Red Sox, Timlin struggled with injuries to his right shoulder and left oblique in 2006 and the beginning of 2007, making multiple visits to the disabled list.
With Boston's sweep of Colorado in the World Series, Timlin earned the fourth championship of his career.
[29] He made a total of six minor league appearances; two for the Rookie-level Casper Ghosts and then four for the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox.
[36] In 2006, with former teammates Johnny Damon and Édgar Rentería, Timlin was featured on an episode of the animated television series Arthur, providing his voice for the Elwood City Grebes pitcher "Winlin.
"[37] During the 2017 season, Timlin worked as color commentator with play-by-play announcer Dave O'Brien for several Red Sox games in July.
[38] Timlin was present at the concert where the Las Vegas shooting occurred on October 1, 2017, but escaped unharmed.