SAN FRANCISCO -- Tim Lincecum has been called "The Freak," "The Franchise" and "Seabiscuit."

 

Now he can be called something else: The National League's Cy Young Award winner.

 

The Giants right-hander earned the prestigious honor, emblematic of the league's best pitcher, in voting conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America and announced Tuesday.

 

Lincecum received 23 of 32 first-place votes, seven second-place votes and one third-place vote for 137 points, which were assigned on a 5-3-1 basis. He outdistanced Arizona's Brandon Webb (73 points), the New York Mets' Johan Santana (55), Philadelphia's Brad Lidge (10), Milwaukee's CC Sabathia (9) and the Chicago Cubs' Ryan Dempster (4).

 

Lincecum became only the second Giant to capture the Cy Young, joining 1967 winner Mike McCormick, and the first second-year player to earn the distinction since right-handers Dwight Gooden of the Mets and Bret Saberhagen of Kansas City secured the 1985 awards in their respective leagues.

 

At 24, Lincecum already has earned a place in Giants lore alongside Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry, San Francisco's Hall of Fame right-handers. Marichal somehow never received a Cy Young first-place vote in his six 20-win seasons, and Perry twice won the award after leaving the Giants.

 

Despite Lincecum's sustained excellence, he faced formidable competition for the award. Santana's 2.53 ERA led the NL, Webb's 22 victories paced the league, Sabathia performed in otherworldly fashion after being traded from Cleveland (11-2, 1.65 ERA) and Lidge converted all 41 of his regular-season save opportunities.

 

But none of them matched Lincecum's overall dominance. He compiled a league-best .783 winning percentage with his 18-5 record and amassed 265 strikeouts to become the first Giant in baseball's modern era (since 1900) to earn that distinction. Against Lincecum, opponents hit .221 overall and .167 with runners in scoring position while averaging 7.22 hits per nine innings -- all league lows. And his 2.62 ERA was the NL's second best.

 

Lincecum's game-by-game progression defined consistency. His 26 quality starts ranked second in the league, two behind Santana. Never did he lose consecutive starts; only once did he allow four or more earned runs in back-to-back outings. As the Giants lurched to a fourth-place, 72-90 finish in the West, Lincecum rescued them from a harsher fate by posting a 14-3 mark with a 2.79 ERA in 25 games following losses.

 

That led to another measure of just how singular Lincecum's season was. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the .339 difference between his winning percentage and San Francisco's was the seventh-largest in Major League history among pitchers with at least 15 victories.

 

Lincecum cemented his Cy Young candidacy with a strong finish. He struck out 10 or more batters in six of his last 13 starts and yielded two or fewer runs in all but three of them. He pitched his two complete games, including a four-hit shutout at San Diego, in September. And in the season finale against Los Angeles, he recorded his first nine outs on strikeouts, becoming the first hurler to accomplish that feat since the Mets' Sid Fernandez on July 30, 1986.

 

Webb won 11 of his last 14 decisions. But while Lincecum surged, he dropped three starts in a row between Aug. 26-Sept. 6, allowing 19 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings.

 

Lincecum's triumph was a matter of style as well as substance. Despite his 5-foot-11, 170-pound physique, his long-striding, mechanically precise delivery enabled him to exceed 95 mph with his fastball routinely. He complemented his heat with a curveball, slider and a changeup that proved to be one of his top strikeout pitches as the year lengthened.

 

In his first full Major League season -- he made his Giants debut on May 6, 2007 -- Lincecum became one of the game's most charismatic performers. The native of Bellevue, Wash., was named to the NL All-Star team, appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and won two pre-Cy Young elections as the league's top pitcher involving player voting (Players Choice and The Sporting News).

Now he has the Cy Young, the most impressive totem of pitching excellence.

 

- MLB.com

Good, he deserved it.

what a future this guy's going to have.

Johan Santana snuck in the last couple of weeks, but Lincecum deserved it over the year... my one true man-crush and the dude I look most like in MLB... does that make me a narcissist?

Yes it does.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But you say it like it's a bad thing?

Congrats to Lincecum!

 

The question is how can he improve on his numbers? An 18-5 record, 265 strikeouts and a 2.62 ERA in only his 2nd season!!!

 

This wont be his only Cy Young award, thats for sure

Yes it does.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But you say it like it's a bad thing?

 

:lol

I knew this guy would be phenominal, but not this early in his career. Jeez, how many people have won a Cy in their 2nd year? Incredible

I knew this guy would be phenominal, but not this early in his career. Jeez, how many people have won a Cy in their 2nd year? Incredible

 

Heh, I though Mark Fidrych did, but he only came in 2nd, in his rookie year :lol

I knew this guy would be phenominal, but not this early in his career. Jeez, how many people have won a Cy in their 2nd year? Incredible

 

Heh, I though Mark Fidrych did, but he only came in 2nd, in his rookie year :lol

 

Heh.

 

Hopefully he doesn't follow the same career path is Fidrych...

We need to keep Lincecum's dashing good looks in the MLB for as long as possible, for my sake

He deserved it. Hes so nasty and i still find it funny he still has trouble at ties getting in club houses cause people think hes a kid trying to sneak in. He just has to flash this baby now and am sure he will have no problem.