By JAY COHEN
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- San
Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum won the NL Cy Young Award on Thursday
for the second straight year, emerging from one of the tightest votes
in the history of the honor to become the first repeat winner since
Randy Johnson.
The wiry right-hander,
nicknamed "The Freak" for his giant stride, needed only 15 victories to
earn the award -- the fewest for a Cy Young starter over a
non-shortened season.
Lincecum led the NL with 261 strikeouts and tied for the league lead with four complete games and two shutouts.
Only 10 points separated the top three vote-getters. Chris Carpenter
was second and St. Louis teammate Adam Wainwright finished third
despite getting the most first-place votes.
The 2009 honors for Lincecum and Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke
reflect a recent shift in how voters pick baseball's best pitchers.
Wins, losses and ERA used to determine the Cy Young Award winner -- now
it's detailed statistics such as WHIP, FIP and BABIP.
Greinke equaled the previous low of 16 wins for a non-shortened season when he won the AL award on Tuesday.
"It's turned into a game of complete numbers and statistics and what
people do with that," Lincecum said. "So I mean just to put more
options in the voters' heads about what's supposed to be more
important, which takes priority over another, that's all based on
opinion."
Lincecum is facing misdemeanor
marijuana charges stemming from a traffic stop in his home state of
Washington on Oct. 30. No questions were allowed about the incident in
his conference call after winning the award but he did acknowledge
making a mistake and apologized in a prepared statement.
"I know that as a professional athlete I have a responsibility to
conduct myself appropriately both on and off the field," he said. "I
certainly have learned a valuable lesson through all of this and I
promise to do better in the future.
"I hope and expect that the matter will be resolved soon. In the meantime I am focused on preparing for the 2010 season."
Lincecum received 11 first-place votes, 12 seconds and nine thirds for
100 points in balloting released by the Baseball Writers' Association
of America. Carpenter had nine firsts, 14 seconds and seven thirds to
take second with 94.
Wainwright, who led
the NL with 19 wins and 233 innings, had 12 first-place votes, five
seconds and 15 thirds for 90 points. Trevor Hoffman, who finished
behind Tom Glavine in 1998, is the only other player to get the most
firsts and not win the award.
"The guys I
was going up against, Wainwright and Carpenter, had tremendous
seasons," the 25-year-old Lincecum said. "It was a lucky one for me.
I'll take them as I come I guess."
Two
voters, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus and Keith Law of ESPN.com,
did not include Carpenter on their ballots. Carroll had Wainwright in
the top spot, Lincecum second and Arizona's Dan Haren third. Law voted
for Lincecum, Atlanta's Javier Vazquez and Wainwright in third. Those
were the only votes in any position for Haren and Vazquez.
The six-point gap between Lincecum and Carpenter is tied for the
third-closest in the NL since the ballot expanded to three pitchers in
1970. The 10-point margin from first to third is the second-closest for
the NL ballot.
Lincecum, who had a
$650,000 salary and is headed for a big raise now that he's eligible
for arbitration, did not have any bonus provision for winning the
award. Carpenter receives $100,000 for finishing second, Wainwright
$100,000 for winding up third and Vazquez $70,000 for being voted
fourth.
Lincecum teamed with Matt Cain to
give the Giants a strong 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation,
helping them stay in contention all year in one of baseball's biggest
surprises. He went 15-7 with a 2.48 ERA in 32 starts and 225 1-3
innings.
"I'm excited," Giants infielder
Pablo Sandoval told The Associated Press. "I'm very happy for him. He
did a great job for the team and he had great numbers."
Johnson, Lincecum's teammate this year in San Francisco, and Sandy
Koufax are the only other pitchers to win consecutive NL Cy Young
Awards. Johnson won four straight from 1999-2002 with the Arizona
Diamondbacks and Koufax was honored in 1965 and 1966 for the Los
Angeles Dodgers.
San Francisco selected
the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Lincecum with the 10th overall selection in
the 2006 draft out of Washington, and he instantly became the
organization's top pitching prospect since Hall of Famer Juan Marichal
signed with the New York Giants as an amateur free agent in 1957. He
made his major league debut in 2007 and is 40-17 with a 2.90 ERA in
three seasons.
