NEW YORK — Tim Lincecum was a big winner on a woeful team, which fit him perfectly.
Firing 97 mph fastballs from his miniature frame, the National League Cy Young Award recipient is an anomaly in almost every way.
Lincecum joined Mike McCormick (1967) as the only Giants to win the Cy Young, taking home pitching’s highest honor by a comfortable margin Tuesday following his second major-league season.
“I was definitely surprised. I thought it was going to be a lot closer,” Lincecum said.
The slender kid with the whirling windup received 23-of-32 first-place votes and 137 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks got four first-place votes and finished second with 73 points.
Lincecum, listed at 5-feet-11 and 160 pounds, was 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA and a major league-best 265 strikeouts, remarkable numbers for a fourth-place club that finished 72-90.
In fact, Steve Carlton was the lone Cy Young winner to pitch for a team that was worse. The Hall of Famer was 27-10 with a 1.97 ERA for the 1972 Phillies, who went 59-97.
Former Indians pitcher Score dies
CLEVELAND — Herb Score, the Indians pitcher and former broadcaster whose promise on the mound was shattered by a line drive in 1957, died at his home in Rocky River, Ohio. He was 75.
Score had been in a wheelchair since suffering a stroke in 2002, four years after he was seriously injured in a car accident.
“Herb Score . . . would’ve been just as good if not better than Sandy Koufax if it wouldn’t have been for his injury to his eye,” Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller said. “And Sandy Koufax was the best pitcher I ever saw.”
Footnotes.
Twins reliever Pat Neshek will have ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow and is expected to miss next season.
• Brewers pitcher Salomon Torres retired after 12 major-league seasons.
The Associated Press
