(l-r : Wiggins, Lincecum.  Or right to left? image taken from Faith & Fear In Flushing)

I knew that I wasn’t the first person to make the connection between Mitch Kramer — the nervous freshman protagonist of Richard Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused” — and Giants ace Tim Lincecum when I mumbled something to that effect yesterday night. But in retrospect I should’ve just been grateful that balloons didn’t tumble from the ceiling in commemoration of me being the One Millionth Comic Genius to make that comparison. Not that I couldn’t have used the comically oversized check, but no way am I cleaning up all those balloons in my living room. Not again.

Anyway, given that both the character of Mitch Kramer and Lincecum are long-haired, baseball-playing aficionados of herbal relaxation supplements, it makes sense that the comparison has been made often. But as Wiley Wiggins, who played Kramer, explains to the Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay, it might be time to stop making the comparison. Or at least stop making it to Wiggins over Twitter. He gets it, okay?

The Wall Street Journal: When was the first time someone brought the comparison between Tim Lincecum and Mitch Kramer to your attention?

Wiley Wiggins: I think the deluge started sometime during the summer of last year. It was pretty much all tweets from random people to me along the lines of, œHey, are you pitching for the Giants now? Ha! If I had a job pitching for the Giants, I probably wouldn™t be manning my own Twitter account.

WSJ: Do you agree that there™s a physical resemblance?

WW: Since I™ve undergone a horrible, slow transformation from effete, willowy teen with long hair into a sort of blocky, short-haired clone of my father, there™s not much of a resemblance to me now. I can see Mitch Kramer in him, though. I hope the other players don™t beat him with wooden paddles at the beginning of every season.

WSJ: Do you know much about Tim Lincecum at all?

WW: All I™ve heard is that he plays pro sports and got busted for possession. My pitching in œDazed and Confused was so bad that they had to use cut-ins with a stunt double, and I spent most of that filming night being ruthlessly mocked by a team of Little League extras. Also, every time I™ve ever tried pot, I™ve ended up hiding under my bed, hysterically paranoid. We pretty much have nothing in common, I guess.