After 41 years, the National League Cy Young Award has returned to San Francisco.
Tim Lincecum this morning became the second San Francisco Giant to win baseball's most coveted pitching honor and the first since Mike McCormick in 1967.
In balloting announced by the Baseball Writers Association of America, Lincecum won in a landslide. He garnered 23 of 32 first-place votes, seven second-place votes and one third-place vote, for a total of 137 points.
Brandon Webb of Arizona finished second with four first-place votes and 73 points. The Mets' Johan Santana was third with four first-place votes and 55 points.
CC Sabathia of Milwaukee got the final first-place vote but finished fifth behind Brad Lidge, the Philadelphia closer.
One writer, Chris DeLuca of the Chicago Sun-Times, did not name Lincecum on his ballot. His three choices were Webb first, Lidge second, Santana third.
Thirty-two members of the BBWAA, two from each National League city, cast ballots after the final game of the regular season but before the playoffs. Five points were awarded for each first-place vote, three for second place and one for third place.
With his small frame and whip-like delivery fooling and overpowering hitters at an astounding rate, Lincecum captured an award that eluded some of the Giants' greatest pitchers, including Juan Marichal and Jason Schmidt. Gaylord Perry won in 1972 as a Cleveland Indian and in 1978 as a San Diego Padre. The award was first given in 1956.
In his first full big-league season, Lincecum threw 227 innings over 33 starts and one relief appearance. He went 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA and led the majors with 265 strikeouts.
In the National League, only Santana had a better ERA (2.53). Only Santana (2341/3) and Cole Hamels (2271/3) had more innings.
The landslide surprised Lincecum, who was sitting on his sofa at home in San Francisco watching NFL highlights on TV when he got the call saying he won.
"I thought it was going to be a lot closer," he said. "I definitely don't want to say I had it in the bag. I was thinking somebody else would have it, Johan Santana, CC or Webb. Those guys are all great players. I think they're all three Cy Young winners previously. I figured they had a better shot, or as good a shot as I did."
Lincecum often sounded nonchalant about his Cy Young chances, but teammate Brian Wilson revealed the thought had crossed both of their minds as early as spring training.
"Tim and I made some goals for each other, and the Cy happened to be just one of the many we set," the closer said. "We joked around about both winning the award and calling it the 'Cys Youngs.' I can almost assure you that out of all the candidates, not one of them started their spring training off with winning that award in mind.
"Every start that Tim had, he had an agenda. As outlandish as it seems, focusing on that goal subsequently helped him focus on success and achievement."
Wilson was in a dentist chair when Lincecum phoned to say he had won.
"I was screaming when he told me," Wilson said in an e-mail. "I'm not sure if that was a reaction to the drill cutting into my gums because of my overaggressive fist pumping I was displaying on the chair. Like I said before, I knew it was his when he took the mound every start."
Lincecum's other teammates were thrilled as well.
"That's great, man. Wow," catcher Bengie Molina said when told of Lincecum's win. "He pitched so great. I'm so happy for him. "I'm hoping he enjoys it. I know it's an individual award, but looking back and seeing year we had as team, for him to come out with Cy Young is amazing. It's unbelievable."
Lincecum is the second Cy Young winner in four seasons that Molina has caught. The other was the Angels' Bartolo Colon in 2005. Molina also caught Roy Halladay of Toronto when he finished third in 2006.
Reliever Jack Taschner called Lincecum "a phenomenal pitching talent and a great kid and great worker."
Although Lincecum's win did not surprise him, Taschner said, "The landslide surprised me because there were so many good pitchers in the NL this year. Usually when you're on the West Coast, East Coast guys don't get to see West Coast pitchers. Obviously the word got out. You only had to see him once to see how special he is.
"This is great for him and great for the organization. It's a great start to his career. He's only two years in."
Lincecum, an All-Star at 24, became a Cy Young favorite late in the season when Webb faltered in three consecutive starts, including two against division-rival Los Angeles. However, Webb finished strongly and padded his win total, finishing with four more than Lincecum.
Santana went 9-0 over the final three months of the season and captured the ERA title to burnish his credentials for the award. Sabathia went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA and with three shutouts in 17 starts for the Brewers after his acquisition from Cleveland on July 7.
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